


Oh, These Revived Love Affairs

by AccidentallyTheWholeFanfic



Category: Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon: Back To Nature
Genre: Complete, Drama, Harebrained Scheme, Humor, M/M, Rewrite, Romance, Slash, ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 17:28:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/433616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AccidentallyTheWholeFanfic/pseuds/AccidentallyTheWholeFanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack Ailes never imagined he'd find himself falling hard for the transient man swathed in purple, or that it'd be mutual - never mind the possibility that it'd just be a summer love affair when all was said and done. And it all started when he bothered a wasted maniac who could grant wishes. Rewrite of "Oh, These Crazy Love Affairs", refurbished with corny drama. Slash. Done!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: We're All Mad

Leg in... no. Leg out... no. Leg back in - maybe if I chopped it off... that would show it, at least until I died from shock or blood loss.

Groaning, I threw the sheets off of me and sat up, hugging my pillow in complete frustration. I'd stripped all the way down to my underwear, and it was still too friggin' muggy and humid to fall asleep. May was ebbing into June on a sadistic wave of humidity, and it was somehow even worse out in the countryside than it had been in the city.

My Cocker spaniel, Bob, lay splayed on his back in his corner of the bedroom, snoozing away happily with his tongue lolling out as he carelessly flashed me and anyone who may have been peering into my bedroom window. Casting a resentful glance at him, I plodded out to the kitchen to whip open the freezer, standing in front of it for a minute before slamming it shut and slumping against it with a helpless groan. I was too tall to fit in the stupid thing and hibernate for the summer, and dumping out the entire ice bin on my mattress seemed like a stupid idea.

Swearing under my breath, I slipped on a pair of shorts and some sandals, slipping outside into the humid May night and hoping a nice dip in the lake uphill would cool me down enough. The rattling screeches of the cicadas made my head throb horribly as I made my way across my farm, but I held my head up proudly as I resisted the urge to rip my brain out and chuck it at them. It would certainly solve many of my problems, but it seemed a bit too extreme all the same.

Instead, I focused all of my thoughts into a singular point of rage, a constant mantra of  _Fuck you_  directed solely at the existence of summer. If I couldn't sleep through it or will it away, maybe I could hurt its feelings without feeling bad about it later.

As I passed the stairs leading up to the hot springs and the mine, I stopped, feeling as though something strange was pulling me back. Maybe some sort of tractor beam, a spear through my abdomen that I'd somehow missed as a yellow-clad Hell ninja reeled me in - whatever it was, my feet led me up the stairs and over to the waterfall gushing away in front of the mine. I grinned, cocking my head to the side as I contemplated my options. It looked so cold and inviting...

" _Wheeeeeeeee!"_

A loud splash smacked through the stillness of the horribly warm night air, echoing with the sound of my cannonball into the river that ran past my farm. I paddled around happily, backstroking beneath the waterfall before pulling myself up and clasping my hands in mock prayer beneath the icy torrent.

"Harvest Goddess," I began mouth twisting up into a wry smile, "please turn off this stupid heat, because I'd really like to sleep."

The water roared in my ears. Maybe it was the best response I'd be able to get. Sighing, I bent down to grab the sandal that had flown off when I'd jumped in...

...It was hovering.

My sandal was _hovering_. My sandal was hovering up the goddamn waterfall like aliens were trying to abduct it. I watched, gaping, as it vanished under the wall of clear water and mist pouring down from the lake above.

Moments later, it came hurtling back full-speed at my face. I cried out as the strap smacked me in the nose, falling back onto my butt with a loud splash as a beautiful, angry voice slurred, "CHEAP BASTARD."

My jaw dropped as I saw the waterfall begin to glow with a green light, a blinding form materializing within. Shielding my eyes, I whimpered, staring at the woman who hovered - hovered! - before me. She was tall, slender, and gorgeous - alabaster skin, much of it exposed by her rumpled turquoise halter top and short white skirt that gave way to an endless expanse of leg. She had brilliant, shining emerald-green hair tied back in a loose, sloppy braid, and her face looked like a beautiful Renaissance painting, from the full lips to the high cheekbones.

She was like a goddess...

...Like the Harvest Goddess...

I gurgled incoherently for a few moments, struggling to find the appropriate words for the gorgeous, dangerous deity before me.

"What the  _fuck_?"

Those weren't the words I was hoping for.

The goddess squinted at me, leaning forward - I noticed the powerful smell of tequila, vomit, and pot rolling off her in waves, and she seemed to be having trouble focusing.

"NO. The ffffuck's the matter... with  _you?"_ she snapped, flicking my nose with a swipe of her finger. Straightening up and holding her head, she groaned, waving off my panicked stammering. "Okay, okay... I get it, kid, I dun'need yer lectures. I'm three thousand damn... centuries old now, and you're  _not_ , ssso... I can  _handle_ it. Okay? Hhhhandle. Hhhhannnndle..." She giggled. "You ever notice how weird that word sounds? Hhhhandle. But... but... don't  _tell_ my boss or anything. Yeah. Cause I'll have to fuck you up."

She whipped out a switchblade and pointed it at my chest. "An' I don't wanna fuck you up. Yer... kinda... yer kinda hot. You seein' anyone? _Damn_ , son, everyone's so  _ffffucking hot_  tonight, what  _is_  this?"

That was exactly what I wanted to know. Had I not swallowed my tongue, I would've asked her.

"Look, look, I'm... ssssorryyyy," she hissed, patting me on the head. "You're okay. Heheheh, I can totes see yer nipples, dude." She groaned and rubbed her temple. "I'm kinda... yknow, busy and shhhhhit, so if you wanna get some wishhhhin', I mean... yeah, tomorrow's good. So come back tomorrow! Make a wish! Or I'll... ffffuck you up. Okay?" The switchblade was aimed my way again. "Lates, man."

I sat in the water, trembling, as she popped out of view. The smell of booze and weed still hung heavy in the air. My eyes were wide, my breathing labored and ragged. I wasn't sure if the water around me was suddenly a few degrees warmer, or if it was just my imagination. I wasn't sure if  _any_  of this had just been my imagination.

"I just wanted some sleep," I finally whimpered, collecting my sandals and stumbling clumsily back to the farm as my mind tried to work out just what in the hell had happened. Maybe I was delusional from lack of sleep. Maybe I  _was_  asleep, and it was some deranged, vibrant nightmare brought on by taste-testing my friend Karen's entries for the Cooking Festival. Maybe this was the abyss gazing back into me. No matter what it was, I wasn't chancing being fucked up by a malevolent deity with a blade. I would see her tomorrow, even if I wet myself the whole way there.

I lay curled up in a ball on top of my mattress for the rest of the night, teeth chattering, body trembling violently.

I still wasn't cold.

\------------------------

I bolted upright, rubbing my eyes and looking around as the blurred blobs around me slowly focused into actual objects. A faint sound still hung in my ears that I couldn't quite place - an explosion? A shout? A riot?

A sparkling glint near my bedroom door caught my eye, and I quickly shooed Bob away from it as I plodded over, nudging the broken glass gingerly with my foot:

The remains of an empty tequila bottle, crowded around a rolled and sealed letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some reservations about doing this. It's been a LONG time, I haven't had the original story on my hard drive for years now, and I wondered if it was best to just leave it alone. On the other hand, a lot of people liked that story, and I've found myself wanting to redo it for nearly a year now (call it a fondness for the pairing which I won't spoil for the new readers).
> 
> I felt it was a bit unfair of me to take it down, in retrospect, but I also felt I could have written it far better than I did back then. We'll find out. So... here it is. I hope I can do both the original and my evolved writing skills justice. And I hope you'll follow me along for the remake of Oh, These Crazy Love Affairs.
> 
> Let's do this.


	2. Chapter 1: Wish for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small scene was added on to the end of the prologue earlier, and since it gets referenced in this chapter, I figured a heads-up was appropriate.

I sat at the kitchen table, fully awake, staring blankly at the simple note spread out before me as I chugged my coffee.

 _I was serious,_ it said. There was no signature, but it didn't exactly need one. It smelled like a brewery. I shuddered, and headed outside to tend to my farm.

 _So this goddess really does_ apparently  _exist, and she wants to grant me a wish,_ I reasoned, ignoring how completely bizarre the idea sounded as I brushed my horse. "That's pretty nice of her, right, Homer?" I asked aloud, refilling his water trough.

Homer snorted, chewing idly on a pile of hay in the corner. He wasn't terribly opinionated.

My thoughts engaged in a nonstop barrage of conflicting opinions as I continued my work: A  _you're crazy, you were asleep the whole time and just dreamed it up_  as I watered the tomatoes and pineapples; a  _you're just being skeptical, you big baby_ as I harvested the last patch of strawberries from spring; a  _seriously, man, get to the clinic. You're delusional from all the heat either way_ as I finished fertilizing a patch of corn.

As I sat down on my porch to rest, I pulled the crumpled-up note from the pocket of my shorts and smoothed it out, glancing over the words again and again. The pile of broken glass in my trash can gave me no cause to be skeptical at all, but the third me had a point: Maybe this was all a very elaborate, stupid mirage of some sort. Or a fever dream. "Maybe I was dead."

"Nah, you're not pale enough to be a ghost," spoke the pair of sandal-clad feet that stepped into my line of vision. Looking up, I spotted my friend Karen, who continued, "Why would you be dead, anyway?" as she pulled me to my feet and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know, those crazy murderous rampages you go on," I replied offhandedly, stretching and yawning as I followed her out to my crops. "What brings you over here, anyway?"

She poked idly at a green tomato, flicking it against the cage over and over. "Just saw you wandering around here, muttering to yourself, and I wanted to see how long it took you to notice that someone was listening."

"I kind of expect it after six months here," I responded, crossing my arms and tapping my foot thoughtfully. Another internal debate was taking form, but Karen would provide the answer before I even had time to think it over anyway:

"I was on my way to the hot springs." She was tugging insistently on my hand, even as she added, "You wanna come with?"

"Ah, I-" My mind and throat locked up as Karen started dragging me off towards Mother's Hill, bits and snatches of something about the Harvest Goddess barely brushing my ears. Coming to, I suddenly freed my hand from hers and motioned for her to wait as I scrambled over to the shipping bin and scooped out a few strawberries. "Okay, I'm ready," I replied, my voice oddly bright.

Karen eyed the fruits I was holding, torn between skepticism and curiosity. "Hungry?"

"Nah." I hesitated, before shrugging, and blurting out, "You said she likes strawberries, right?"

She smiled, looking surprised. "So, you believe in her too, huh?"

The note flashed to the forefront of my mind, leading in snatches of whatever-it-had-been from the previous night. "I... don't...  _not_  believe in her," I responded finally, earning a shrug in response. "Not necessarily, anyway. But, hey. I'm farming, so I may as well humor the idea, right?"  _Or she'll gut me like a fish_.

Karen grinned and nodded. "Couldn't hurt."

As we neared the hot springs, three distinct shapes came into view by the river: A damp, wriggling burlap sack; my neighbor, Popuri, looking fascinated; and Kai, the owner of the snack bar on the beach, wading around and pulling fish from the water with ease.

"Oh, it's like watching  _Mulan,_ " Popuri sighed dreamily as three more fish slapped wetly into the open sack.

Kai simply sent a slick grin at her over his shoulder. "Is it? Want me to teach you how to be a man, kiddo?" He flexed and posed, making exaggerated grunts and groans.

Popuri giggled in response and slapped him hard on the shoulder, causing him to slip and fall on his back into the river with a startled yelp. The two were laughing as he clambered out, soaked to the bone.

"Popuri, stop trying to drown people," Karen sighed, smirking nonetheless while Kai shook and wrung himself as dry as he could. "Expecting a lot of business tonight, Kai?"

"Nah, just hungry." Kai eyed the sack again and shrugged. "Hungrier than I thought, apparently." Spotting me out of the corner of his eye, he grinned and waved. "Hey, Jack! You like fish?"

"Hey, Kai." I waved back and peered into the sack, eyes widening slightly. "I  _love_  fish."

"He's gonna eat the whole bag raw," Karen cracked, giving me a light shove on the shoulder. "C'mon, stop drooling on Kai's stock."

Kai tied up the sack and hoisted it over one shoulder, waving at us as he headed down the path leading past Gotz's house. "Maybe you guys can stop in for lunch tomorrow, then! A couple of other people are coming, but there'll be plenty of fish to go around! All you can eat, even!" He gave me a pointed nod and a thumbs up, before heading off back towards town.

"Oh, I have to work tomorrow afternoon," Popuri huffed, crossing her arms and scowling. She kicked a pebble into the river.

"Well, maybe we can go Thursday," Karen assured her, patting her on the shoulder. "Look, Rick and I really appreciate you covering for him, though..."

Popuri gave a little start, and smiled back at Karen. "Oh, no, it's okay! What are sisters for, right?" She giggled.

Karen laughed and clapped Popuri on the shoulder, before looking over to me. "How about you? You going over?"

I licked my lips, the smell of grilled fish already beginning to waft from my imagination and past my nostrils. I breathed in deeply. "Ohhh, yeah."

Karen let out a snort of laughter, shaking her head and sending her blonde ponytail flapping about. "And you haven't even tried his cooking yet. He's been taking lessons from Doug and Ann," she clarified, upon seeing my questioning look. "So you'd better save some leftovers for us!"

"What-overs?" I called back, waving as she and Popuri headed over to the hot springs for a dip. Sighing, I headed over to the waterfall, feeling my stomach go from growling excitedly, to doing anxious flip-flops. I heard soft splashes and giggles behind me, swept away beneath the imposing roar of the water. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I looked upward. "Please don't eat me."

In, the strawberries went - one, two, three, dancing up into the misty nothingness. I blinked, trying to get myself used to the sight - but, before I could, a flash of light filled the area.

When my eyes had finally adjusted, she was before me again: Hair pinned back in a messy, frizzed bun, eyes concealed by gigantic, dark glasses. Her pale skin had a sickly pallor to it this time. She wore a monogrammed, green silk bathrobe that was sloppily tied, and she held a glass of something fizzy and blue. The strawberries were floating in the mixture.

"Whoever you are, I freaking love you right now," she mumbled, downing the mixture in one gulp and belching contentedly. Sighing, she patted her belly. "Oh, man, that hit the spot."

"Uh, you're welc-"

"Shh!" she hissed, cringing and rubbing the side of her head. "Keep it down, alright?"

"Sorry," I whispered back, cringing and rubbing the back of my head nervously. "I just-"

"You're that kid from last night, right?" she continued, possibly peering at me - it was hard to tell with the glasses. "Jack Ailes, right?"

"Err, how-?" I stopped myself. Hell, she was a goddess. That much was obvious, even if it turned out that this had been, hopefully, all in my head the whole time. If she knew my name, that seemed about par for the course. "Yeah... I'm the one you said you were gonna-"

"About that, yeah..." She held up a hand to stop me once more, and clumsily rumpled my hair. "Sorry, kid. I get kinda mean and, uhh, horny when I'm tanked... plus, we got our bonus last night, so... yeah, I kinda overdid it." She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "You ever seen someone bleed  _pure, concentrated absinthe_?"

I blanched. That sounded downright painful. Maybe even fatal, but who was counting when you were dealing with immortals? "Uhh, can't say I have..."

"Want to?" Upon seeing my jaw drop, she burst out into a husky, sensuous laugh, before grimacing and rubbing her forehead. "Okay, I gotta go back soon, kick Cthulhu out of bed before Dad finds him... look, I didn't mean to scare you or anything, but I really  _was_  being serious about the whole wish deal last night. You got my note, right?"

My mind struggled to process this, jamming as a flood of what-ifs and maybes crashed in the rush to be the first through the opening gates. "D-did you say-"

"One wish," she confirmed, nodding, holding up a finger for emphasis. "It's a contractual obligation thing, anyway: Give an offering, get a wish, subject to our scrutiny, case-by-case, right to refuse, blah blah blah - but you've been doing okay on the farm, and those strawberries were _great_. So it's no skin off my back."

"I just offered my sandal," I blurted out, looking at the ground in embarrassment. "By accident."

"Those strawberries were intentional, though," she mused, giving me a toothy, crafty grin. "The contract doesn't differentiate-"

"But I really-"

"-But  _I_  do," she finished. "So, since you're freaking out about the whole thing, I'll just cut it down to one wish. But there's still that sandal, and I'd hate to let a perfectly good wish go to waste... okay, maybe I can work the spare one over to one of the other villagers, my boss is pretty lenient..." She snapped her attention back to me, sending her train of thought plummeting off the hillside. "Look, what are you so worried about?"

"'Be careful what you wish for'?" I offered, shrugging weakly. It was a feeble excuse - a stupid one, really. Despite her threats the night before, she didn't seem inherently malevolent. She was offering to grant me anything I wanted.  _Anything_ I wanted... what the hell  _did_  I want, anyway? Maybe that was it - there were so many wonderful things to choose from: Common sense, money management skills, infinite patience, a brutal and rewarding ascent to absolute godhood, an alpaca that looked like Elvis-

"There  _are_  limitations," she added sternly, folding her arms and staring down at me. I straightened up quickly, attempting to uncouple the megalomaniacal cravings from my own train of thought. She shook her head. "I don't think I have to worry about you breaching them, though. You seem like a good kid."

In spite of myself, I cracked a wry smile. "I used to roast my cousin's Barbies in the oven."

She scoffed, and waved it off. "Pff, who didn't? I  _still_ do it. And it's  _fun_." Her expression seemed to brighten, and she snapped her fingers, cringing a bit at the noise afterward. "And... so is this! It's perfect!" She glanced at my baffled expression and shook her head, smirking. "You'll see. You're gonna love it, trust me. I've got this."

"Got what?" I asked, anxiety starting to overtake me once again as the Harvest Goddess yawned and shuddered.

"You'll  _see_ ," she repeated, stretching and groaning. A few joints popped loudly, and she moaned happily. "Man, those strawberries really hit the spot. Hey, look, just leave it to me, and your old auntie HG here'll get you all hooked up!"

"Hooked up with  _what_?" I asked again, exasperated. She waved me off as she rippled away beneath the mist. "Don't you fade out when I'm asking you something!" I half-yelled, wondering why I was suddenly talking to an immortal, omnipotent being like she was a rebellious teenager. "Isn't this  _my_  wish? Don't  _I_ get any say in this?"

Three small objects pattered lightly against my face in response. I peeled them off and stared at them blankly. Strawberry tops.

"...She'd better know what she's doing," I muttered darkly, shoving the leaves into my pocket and stalking past the hot springs.

"Jack, who were you talking to?" Karen called, sloshing over to the gap in the fence surrounding the springs. Her flushed face peered out curiously. Apparently, the whole "hungover magical being" deal had failed to attract anyone else's attention.

"Err, just got startled by a squirrel," I responded, waving as I headed back toward the farm. "See you later, okay? Bye, Popuri."

"Okay, sure."

"Bye!"

As I approached my farm, I observed my fields with a critical eye, and found nothing else outside that could occupy my time. Feeling otherwise too exhausted to head into town and chat with whoever happened to pass by, I trudged inside and flopped facedown on the couch. Bob darted over to sniff excitedly at my hand, and began licking it.

"There, there," I muttered, flapping my hand idly. I awkwardly stroked Bob's ears. "Daddy's just losing his mind, and maybe his free will to some small degree. Yeah, he is. What's new with you?"

Bob wagged his tail and rolled over onto his back, imploring me to scratch his belly.

On the plus side, I was going to gorge myself on fish tomorrow night like my life depended on it. Maybe that would be it - a never-ending pile of seafood, regenerating itself even as I burrowed my way through it, like a delicious, edible game of Tetris.

Suddenly, the whole wish thing didn't seem so ominous after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Jack's love affair with fish, fish, and more fish! And also shrimp. Who can blame him? But what of the Harvest Goddess's plans? Should she really be scheming while hungover? Should anyone? Yes. Yes, absolutely. On the other hand, maybe Jack's just lost his mind.


	3. Chapter 2: Something There

_My tail flipped and swished as I swam happily in the salty depths of the Pacific. The faint rays of sunlight from the surface glinted and gleamed off the flatware I clenched tightly in my merman fists as I pursued the irritated shark with a feral grin upon my face._

_I was casually devoured by a passing whale..._

A startled cry escaped my lips as I saw Bob's nostrils dilating rapidly with each enthusiastic sniff of my eyeball. He yapped happily, licking my face before leaping down off the couch and heading to the kitchen for a well-earned drink.

Grunting, I rolled off the couch, blinking in the strong mid-morning sunlight, noting with wide eyes that the clock read 12:24. I'd been out far longer than I'd realized, only being vaguely aware of flopping down on the couch in an exhausted pile the previous night. With a start, I lunged outside, darting from crop-to-crop and swinging my watering can around in wide, wild, reckless arcs. I was supposed to be at Kai's snack lodge for lunch in a short matter of time, and I was well behind on my usual morning's work - something about being late tended to drive me mad.

"I'll have to brush you later," I informed Homer, giving him a quick pat on the muzzle and making sure he had fresh hay and water. He merely flicked his tail and wiggled his ear in response, trotting over to the water trough. "You have the patience of a saint, you know that, boy?"

Homer nickered distractedly.

A quick shower later, I was sprinting down to the beach, earning puzzled stares from Barley and May as I passed Yodel Ranch.

"Lunch," I called, getting a bemused shrug in return. Hopping down the steps two at a time, I stumbled across the beach, pulling to a halt in front of Kai's snack lodge. My breathing was labored, and I slumped against the door as I let my jackhammering heart get back under control. I was late, but barging in like a madman seemed somehow over-the-top for the occasion. Wiping my sweaty forehead, I squared my shoulders and strolled calmly into the diner, waving casually. "Hey, guys, sorry I'm so late, I- uh?"

The little bell over the door jangled again as it closed behind me, and I stood there self-consciously, hands jammed in my pockets as I surveyed the empty room. "Geez, I can't have been  _that_  late, right...?"

"Morning!" Kai's voice called from the back room, making me jump. "Be out in a second!"

"Ahh... okay!" Eyes darting around for somewhere to sit, I finally settled on a stool at the counter, taking in the large, bright, airy room. Half-opened wooden blinds covered the windows, and various prints of sealife hung on the white wooden walls - along with a framed photograph of Kai play-fighting with what looked like a shark skeleton. A few large ceiling fans spun lazily overhead, and the sound of the waves outside was only slightly muffled - it was extremely comfortable.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. What can I- oh, hey!" Slipping through the beaded curtains separating the back room from the rest of the diner, Kai gave me a small wave. "What's up, Jack? Wasn't expecting you for another..." he checked his watch, "hour or so."

_...Oh._

Grinning, he strode up to the counter and began to spray it off. "Guess you were really hungry, eh?"

Chuckling sheepishly, I shrugged and slumped down on the stool. "I, uhh... I guess my clock was a little fast," I admitted, avoiding his amused gaze. "I thought I was late, actually..."

"You look a little flushed," Kai muttered thoughtfully, surveying me with his dark, concerned eyes. "You didn't run all the way here in this heat, did you?"

I suddenly felt extremely foolish. "Guilty as charged. Err... sorry. But I'm fine, though," I added, waving off his concerned glance. "Really. Most of it's probably sunburn from working out on the farm."

"Well... okay..." Keeping his eyes on me, Kai rummaged through the cabinets by the stove, setting various pots and pans down, blasting two with a bit of cooking spray. "Still, how about I fix you something to perk you up? On the house," he added, catching me reaching for my wallet. Seeing me about to protest, he raised a hand. "Really, it's fine."

"If you're sure that's okay," I agreed reluctantly, shrugging. "Just a coffee, though."

My traitorous stomach rumbled loudly, and Kai shot me a broad grin.

"You sure, man?"

While the coffee was brewing, and Kai rummaged around in the meat cooler, I glanced around the diner once more and marveled at the prints and photographs adorning the walls.

"You, uhh... these are all your catches, right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as my gaze settled on what looked like a print of a mermaid. "I always liked Ariel."

"Most of 'em." Kai opened a massive container of crab cakes, beginning to fry them up. He snickered, pointing at the mermaid with his spatula. " _That_  was a birthday gift from Greg. Told me his ex-wife modeled for it."

"Ah. Must've been the whole mermaid problem. Nice... hey, you need a hand there?" I scurried around the counter as Kai balanced two more containers in his arms, a bowl full of clam cakes starting to slide to the floor. "Whoa!"

"Nice save!" Kai called gratefully, balancing another bowl on his hip and setting a few utensils down as he took the clam cakes from me. He smiled wryly. "Sorry, I can be a bit of a klutz sometimes."

At those words, I immediately imagined how I must've looked, darting around my farm this morning like a dragonfly on crack. "Hey, it happens to everyone." The intoxicating aroma and welcoming sizzle of Kai's cooking had started caressing my nose and ears, hissing wonderful promises while I rolled the flatware up in napkins. "...Besides... this... this smells wonderful..." I sidled off towards the sink, faintly wondering if I was drooling.

Kai let out a loud bark of laughter, sending me crashing through my cloud and back to the ground, where I suddenly realized I was helping him set a large basket of bread down. "Man, you must be starving! Well, it'll be done soon enough. You've been a pretty big help, you know - ahh, you don't have to wash those," he added sheepishly.

Looking down, I noticed I was scrubbing out the coffee mug from earlier. Shooting him an awkward grin, I shrugged and set it down on a dish towel to dry. "Sorry, I kinda overstepped my boundaries there a bit..."

"Nah, I should be the one apologizing," Kai responded, now chopping up an assortment of vegetables at light speed, and somehow retaining all of his fingers in the process - or, at least, not screaming in agony. Wiping his forehead, he smiled apologetically at me as he slid the vegetables into a large bowl. "You're a guest, you know? I want you to relax! Besides, I hear you've been doing a great job at that farm of yours, working your butt off. Bet you're making your gramps proud."

My ears tingled slightly at the compliment. "Well, it's not a  _lot_  so far, but... I've been doing what I can. Hey, you can come down and see it sometime," I added quickly, watching as Kai tossed the salad around like an omelet in a pan - everything landed perfectly back in the bowl. I let out a low whistle. "That's... that's pretty incredible for a klutz."

"Thanks!" Cocking his head, Kai frowned, lower lip jutting out a bit. "Well, that is, thanks for the offer  _and_  the compliment- ah, you know what I mean!" As he flashed me a somewhat embarrassed grin, he fumbled a bit with the bowl. I lurched forward to help keep him from dropping it, the two of us scuttling awkwardly toward the counter like a blue-and-violet man-spider creature, our legs bumping together in a clumsy rhythm. "Whoops! Alright, let's set you down... alright! Good save!" Kai cheered, exchanging a vigorous high five with me that left my hand stinging. His eyes sparkled slightly, and his expression softened a bit. "Really, though, you've been a great help today, Jack. Thanks. I'm pretty glad you got here early, actually."

I rubbed the back of my neck and focused my gaze on a spot slightly above his right ear, feeling oddly fuzzy and pleased. "Ah, it's... don't worry. It's actually been pretty fun, helping you out, though. And watching you work! You know," I babbled on, "Karen says your cooking rivals the Callahans', too, and... it definitely smells like it does - err - ah, geez. That sounded... well, you get what I mean, right?"

"Don't worry," Kai interrupted, looking extremely pleased, and a bit cocky. He grinned slickly at me. "Not the first time my cooking's gotten someone all stirred up!" After a pause, he grimaced and smacked himself on the forehead. "Wow, that - that was a pretty lame way to- anyway, think I'll start getting this set up for when everyone else arrives," he finished abruptly, moving fluidly around the kitchen as he finished preparing everything.

"Need any help?"

Hesitating for a moment, his back to me, Kai drummed his fingers on the counter, before shaking his head. "Nah, I'm good, thanks. But, uhh... well, Jack?" He glanced over his shoulder at me, his voice sounding oddly careful. "I was just wondering if maybe you'd li-"

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a loud rapping on the door, followed by the bell jangling and clanging as Elli and Cliff made their way inside. Avoiding my curious stare, Kai spun around to shout a cheerful greeting at them, and I made my way over to join them at the table, sliding into an easy conversation with Cliff - though my gaze kept frequently flicking back in Kai's direction as he went about setting the food out. He looked slightly troubled, but caught Elli up in a broad stream of chatter almost instantly.

Moments later, Ann and Mary arrived, and lunch was underway as Kai plopped down into the chair across from mine, giving Ann a playful bump with his shoulder and becoming briefly engaged in an intense arm wrestling match with her.

"Winner's the best cook!" Ann grunted, slamming Kai's arm down right after issuing her challenge, and cheering loudly. "Sweet! Now I just gotta win against Dad when I do this!"

"Best two out of three?" At Ann's proud smirk and shake of the head, Kai waved her off. "Ahh... you're a real hardass, Callahan."

"I've heard it can scratch a diamond," Elli quipped, laughing as a chunk of sashimi whizzed by her ear. "Oh, come on, I just work with what you guys give me!"

My ascent into culinary nirvana seemed to speed up as lunch went on, though even as I chatted brightly with Mary about the layout I had in mind for a small apple orchard, I couldn't help but find my thoughts wandering off somewhere...

The sun was floating down to rest in the sea by the time everyone was finished, our bellies gladly full. I vaguely wondered if I might have let out a contented moo, but quickly dismissed the thought as Kai pressed the last of the leftovers into my eager hands.

"Man, you gotta teach me how to cook like this!" Cliff said as he left, waving and turning to hurry off after Ann. "Hey, wait up!"

"I'll race you back!" Ann shouted distantly. "Redhead headstart!"

"Aw, Ann! That's not fair!"

"The poor boy's doomed," Elli sighed, shaking her head and smiling. She and Mary turned back to Kai, and she pulled him into a quick, one-armed hug. "It really was sweet of you to invite us all. You should join us again for dinner sometime soon, alright?"

Kai nodded eagerly, eyes flashing. "Absolutely!"

"And you too, Jack," Elli added, before giving me a playful shove. "And start wearing sunscreen! You look like a salmon!"

"No,  _you_  look like a salmon!" I shot back, swatting at her hand. We sucked in our cheeks and made fish faces at each other for a moment, before sticking our tongues out and snorting.

"Thanks for saving some for Gray," Mary added, smiling and shaking Kai's hand firmly. "Hopefully he can come with us next time!"

"Yeah, I think I'll bust his chops when he gets back tonight," Kai cracked, waving as the two girls departed - Elli, to her house, and Mary, presumably off to meet Gray. Turning to me, Kai seemed to bounce on the balls of his feet. "Man, you and Ann really cleaned your plates!" He laughed, following me out onto the beach, the door to his diner creaking back open behind him.

I shrugged, grinning at him. "Hey, you know... it's what we do best. She tell you what happened at the last cooking festival?"

"Yeah. I heard you two died," Kai said soberly, trying and failing to keep his face straight. He let out a loud snort, and the two of us dissolved into snickers as we reached the stairs to the beach. Behind us, the waves whispered amongst themselves, and a few seagulls chirped and squawked. "Well... anyway, Jack..." He rocked back on his feet, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. "It was really great to have you here. Just think of it... hmmm... well, welcome to Mineral Town," he finished, cuffing me lightly on the shoulder and smiling. "Don't be a stranger, okay?"

"Definitely," I agreed, before halting and looking down slowly. With a jolt, I realized Kai's hand was still on my shoulder, and my own hand was resting atop his. Something deep inside my stomach flipped around. We jerked our hands back, mumbling apologies and avoiding each others' eyes. "Sorry, Kai, I didn't mean for-"

Kai spoke up at the same time: "Don't worry, it's alright - I wasn't-"

We both cut off in mid-sentence, letting the waves and the seagulls swallow the rest of our words. With an awkward grin, I stuck my hand back out, and Kai grabbed it, giving me a lopsided smile of his own as he shook it. Slowly walking up the steps backwards, I waved. "Well... hey, I had a blast. If you ever wanna hang out or something-"

"Yeah, sure! Sure," Kai repeated, doing his own backwards walk towards the diner. "Well, I gotta close up, now, so-"

"Well, I'll see you around! Oh, and Kai?" As he stopped, I beckoned him closer. Dropping my voice, I leaned toward him and whispered conspiratorially: "Karen was right."

Kai looked confused for a moment, before the realization struck him. His responding grin flashed bright white in the sunset. "Well, hey, you know... It's what I do best!"

With a final wave, I turned around and began strolling home, humming to myself as I swung the bag of leftovers back and forth, listening to the plastic rustle and smack against my legs. Even though the food was cooling down, I could still feel the wonderful smells tickling at my nose. "I think Kai's my new favorite person here," I sighed later as I fed Bob, scratching him behind the ears. I flopped down onto the couch and clicked the TV on, only half-listening to the weather report."Of course, all my friends here are great," I continued, glancing over at Bob. "Not to mention, the farm's coming along pretty nicely, and I have you and Homer. I'm pretty lucky, right?"

He gnawed on a chew toy, pondering the question.

Shrugging, I looked up at the ceiling, humming to myself again as I let the day sink in. Something seemed to flit around behind my eyes, but I blinked the nagging feeling away - at least, for a moment. "I wouldn't mind helping him out again, though. He's pretty cool." I felt my heart speed up slightly, and looked down at my clasped, fidgety hands, laughing to myself. "God, I'm acting weird."

"...With a seventy percent chance of rain Saturday, and severe thunderstorms expected to cool things off some around Mineral Town and Forget-me-not Valley," the red-haired woman on TV finished brusquely, shuffling her papers and nodding. "Don't get sick or anything."

"I just ate too much," I reasoned quietly, clicking the TV off and shuffling off to my room to gather up my dirty laundry. "That's all."

The odd, uncomfortable feeling stayed with me all through the night, finally settling down to rest somewhere in my stomach as I drifted off into a sleep riddled with pleasant, vague dreams that slipped out of my grasp the moment I awoke the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand... finally. Finally got this chapter whipped up. Finally figured out where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, and I hope I pulled it off reasonably well. I think you can see where this is headed - after I figured out the what, pacing was the big issue for me (always has been). Well, onward - writing can only improve with practice!
> 
> Thanks to honorelle for the feedback, and to my wonderful friend Alyssa for all her feedback, input, suggestions, and just being an awesome friend in general. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 3: Storm Warning

In the days following the get-together at Kai's, I found myself becoming more and more swamped in work as summer truly, fully set in. A shipment of apple saplings had come in from Forget-me-not Valley, and I tackled and shook down Won for some free pineapple seeds after I'd caught him trying to nick some of my tomatoes. I also learned the Mandarin phrase for "Your mother gives her body freely to cows". I may have thrown a rock at his head.

Nonetheless, I was happily kept busy - it left me with good reason to write off any fluttery feelings or flips of the stomach as hunger, or a side effect of the heat or exhaustion getting to me. Whenever a little voice spoke up in the back of my mind, I quickly learned to squash it right away. I learned that the voice would immediately home in on a certain possible source for these reactions, and that maybe it was full of crap.

As I patted the last of the dirt over yet another apple sapling, I exhaled loudly, wiping the sweat from my aching, clammy forehead and leaving a smear of crusty dirt in its place. Looking up, I waved to Karen and Ann as they left the nearby hot springs.

"Looking good, Jack!" Karen called, drawing a line across her forehead. Ann flashed me a thumbs-up, her own overalls wet and muddy.

I shrugged innocently, grinning back at them and clearing my sore throat, my voice coming out scratchy: "Makes me feel earthy."

The two shook their heads, giggling, and waved as they retreated higher up along the hillside. Chuckling to myself, I turned to grab my shovel, but found myself turning back to stare thoughtfully at the waterfall. It had been almost a week now without a word or a letter from the Harvest Goddess. I wasn't in any particular rush to hear more from her - I just couldn't help but wonder what she had in store for me, or when she was going to start going about it. She'd essentially taken over my one scrap of control in the situation, my wish, and was determined to choose it for me.

 _You_ did  _get yourself into this... however unintentionally. On the other hand, she's a deranged lush. Maybe_ you're  _deranged and feverish, and she's just a mirage,_  I reasoned quietly, shaking my head as I now tossed a shovelful of dirt over my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut as a flash of pain seared across my forehead.  _None of this makes any sense whatsoever. Ergo, it is the best explanation. Voila. Congratulations, you're nuts._

Gracefully accepting the reality of my madness, I slumped down against the newest sapling, downing an entire bottle of water in one gulp and breathing the thick, humid air in heavily. This level of labor was fairly new to me, and I still had to finish watering my crops - including my new, large patch of pineapple seeds. With a desperate glance to the sky, I let an inappropriately twisted smile stretch across my face - the clouds were slowly stretching out, thick and ominous. Just as the weather forecaster had promised.

I suppressed the urge to cackle, knowing I would start to cough, and that I would possibly scare the living hell out of my neighbors should they happen to step outside. "Hurry," I rasped, stretching an arm to the sky as a shadow fell over me, and a clap of thunder shook the ground. "Wow. That was fast."

A hand smacked against mine in an awkward high-five, and I heard an infectious, loud laugh from behind me.

"Day like this must be a dream come true right now," Kai called from behind me, grinning down from his spot behind the apple sapling.

I returned the smile, scooting aside to make room for him as he sat down next to me, and ignoring the fluttering in my stomach. "Hey! Off to go fishing?"

"Nah." Kai shook his head. "Weather's looking a little crappy for that right now. I was actually on my way to the library, but... well, it can wait." He shrugged, his dark eyes sparkling as they wandered over my fields. "Man, you've been busting your butt out here, haven't you?" At my pleased nod, he glanced upward, to the small tree we were sitting under. "This gonna be the orchard you told Mary about?"

Nodding again, much more enthusiastically, I cleared my throat. "The apple section, anyway. I want it to..." Scratching my chin, I groped around for the words to lay out my ideas to Kai: "I want... to be able to look down from Mother's Hill and... there's this ginormous sea of fruit trees below me! I always thought that would be awesome to see. Like a tree god surveying his domain!" The words were out before I could fully comprehend how obscenely stupid they sounded, and I heard Kai chuckle. Feeling my face burn, I scraped together the remains of my shredded dignity and continued: "It feels kind of grand in my head, though. I know it's gonna be a while before it really reaches that point."

"I think it sounds like a great idea!" Kai said, drumming his fingers on his knees as he surveyed the land. "Sounds really pretty, actually. I'd love to see a sight like that."

Following his gaze around the farmland as we made to stand up, I could almost see the colorful array of trees phasing into view - peaches in the corner near the stable, oranges in the center, and a vibrant spray of apple trees where we now stood. I blinked hard to clear away odd, fuzzy blotches that had started to float across my field of vision. "Well, you can, if you want... but I bet you've seen a lot of stuff on your travels, right?" Grabbing the watering can, I went to fill it up, hearing Kai follow along behind me.

"Yeah, but I always love seeing what someone's hard work creates," he explained. I could feel his gaze burning into the back of my aching neck as I headed over to water a patch of tomatoes.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw him standing at the edge of the field, looking conflicted and concerned. "Something wrong?"

A gust of wind kicked up, causing Kai's purple vest and bandana to flutter and flap, and causing me to realize just how clammy my skin felt again. With a wry smile, he pointed straight up to the sky. "Well, I just thought that maybe I should be heading back soon, before it starts to pour. And - well-" He tugged anxiously at the collar of his shirt, seeming to fidget for the words. "-I mean... shouldn't you be getting in soon, too? The rain's probably gonna finish all this up for you, and... you seem kind of..." He cleared his throat a few times, pointing to it.

My sweaty forehead wrinkled in confusion for a moment, before his words brushed against it - he had a point. I felt like Hell warmed over, and I had the feeling that only tact was keeping Kai from telling me that I looked the same way. My eyes widened slightly, and I felt a chilly wave sweep over me. "Yeah, you're right," I mumbled, feeling somewhat light-headed. The strange blotches started to cobweb rapidly across my eyes, obstructing my vision even more in ways I couldn't merely blink out. "Hoo boy. I... uhh, Kai, I'm pretty sure you don't have a face."

"Okay, let's get you in there," Kai's voice called from what sounded like another continent. The faceless, blotchy traveler advanced towards me, slung one of my limp arms around the nothing of his shoulder, and helped walk me wherever. I was only vaguely aware of anything going on around me, save for my struggle to stay conscious, and Kai's warm, encouraging hand on my back.

"Kai?" I groaned weakly, slumping against my bedroom doorway, hearing Bob's distant, hyper yapping melting into the woodwork. My bed looked so comfy and inviting, but my throat tightened and my stomach churned. The dam would burst soon, and I had to make it-

"Jack?" Kai's face was a fuzzy tan-and-purple blob now, peppered with the splotchy cobwebs that sucked all the color away. It all melted into a soup of moth-eaten visuals and aural gibberish as my stomach began to heave. "Oh baby, lettuce kitchen hat's broom. Pack? May, crack seuvighnu melheshi wabba blabba rum chum-"

I yelled something colorful and violent that left my throat burning, and Kai yelled something dry in response while I slipped into soft, comfortable, dogbark dreams.

\------------------------

_"Look at this! You really did it..."_

_I felt the hand squeeze mine tighter, and my stomach fluttered once more as we tore our eyes away from the incredible sight below, to face each other. The dark brown eyes twinkled, pride and excitement dancing in them._

_"I'm really proud of you, Jack. Look at what you've done with this place!"_

_A hand caressed my face, drawing out a hopeful smile across my lips._

_"And... Jack..."_

Groaning, my eyes creaked open, and I felt my heart thudding madly in my chest as the afterimage of the dream started to ebb away slowly from the edges of my consciousness. Somewhere deep down in my abdomen, I felt an odd jolt and wave ripple through as a flash of lightning threw certain details into sharper focus - along with a strange feeling of disappointment. With a sharp intake of breath, I sat up quickly in my bed, groaning as my forehead throbbed madly in protest. A bitter, tangy taste lingered in my dry throat, and the pounding rain and howling wind outside were driving a perpetual drumroll across my skull.

"Kill me," I groaned hoarsely, clambering clumsily out of my bed. The door to my bedroom was open, and I could hear the TV playing softly in the living room - but only a split second later, Kai rounded the corner from the kitchen, a mixture of concern and relief etched across his face. Bob bounded after him, tail whipping around wildly as he jumped up on me and sniffed my hand to ensure that I still existed.

"You okay walking?" Kai asked quickly, ushering me into a chair at the kitchen table. "You hungry? How're you feeling? You, ah-" He grimaced. "You don't need to..  _hurl_ again, do you?"

I grunted and shook my head, scratching Bob behind the ear. "I... I think I'm fine..."

"Speaking coherently again, too. Cool!" Nodding firmly, Kai headed over to the stove - it was then that I caught the slightly nauseating aroma of soup and tea. "Thought you might be hungry when you woke up," he explained over his shoulder. "I just borrowed a can of chicken soup off Mrs. Lipschitz. You had a pretty nasty fever. Uhh,  _have_ ," he corrected sheepishly, ladling some soup into a bowl and carrying it over to me with an apologetic smile. "Hope you're not mad at me for all this. I just wanted to be sure you were okay."

Something warm blossomed in my chest before the soup even touched my lips, and I cast my gaze down at the table, hiding my smile behind the bowl. "Not at all," I responded quietly, feeling my heart start beating faster. I was suddenly all too aware of what was going on with me, and having him sitting across the table was only making it glare down on me that much brighter. "That... that was... I really owe you one, Kai. Thank you."

Feeling far too confused and anxious to sit there a moment longer and avoid his intense gaze, I clambered up out of my chair, carrying my soup with me. "I... I might lay back down for a bit longer, though," I told him, looking over my shoulder. I saw his shirt and vest were stained, and I couldn't help but wince at the jumbled, distorted memory of me breathing my breakfast and lunch all over him like a dragon on acid. "There should be a pair of pajamas in the laundry, if you wanna change out of - oh, man, I'm so  _sorry_."

"Hey, I'm just glad you're okay," Kai assured me, drumming his fingertips nervously on the tables' edge. Attracted by the sound, Bob sat by his feet, head tilted as he watched Kai tap on the table. "But, I... I don't wanna put you out or anything. So... maybe I should... head on b-"

"And make yourself at home," I interrupted, trying to fight away the knot that formed in my stomach - I could try to sort out my feelings later. Alone. Without constantly being reminded that Kai was lounging in the living room, perhaps wearing my clothes, and apparently watching a man eating rattlesnakes on TV while fretting over my physical well-being. "I mean, you saw how I got earlier, right?" I continued, forcing a reassuring smile back at him. "Don't wanna risk you getting sick too."

As if to punctuate my point, a massive blast of thunder rattled the windowpanes, sending Bob scampering under the coffee table with a yelp that was nearly drowned out by the heavy rain. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, before dropping down to coax Bob out from under the table. He squirmed out and jumped up next to Kai on the couch.

"Well... okay." Kai still looked somewhat uncomfortable, scratching Bob behind the ear and watching the snake eater climb a mountain. I slipped back into my room, shutting the door behind me and slumping against it, setting the bowl of soup on my bedside table before I slid to the floor. Part of me wanted to crawl back into bed and slip off into a long, deep, refreshing sleep. A pleasant sleep, where my dreams didn't involve me staring into Kai's lively, deep brown eyes, feeling his hand stroke my cheek. A dreamless sleep that didn't leave me jolting awake and feeling somewhat disappointed, mind crammed with too many questions for anyone to deal with when just waking up.

 _Maybe that can be my wish,_ I thought wryly, listening to the quiet drone of the TV and the creak of my sofa as Kai shifted on it.  _Answers._

But I couldn't twist the obvious answers into questions and play stupid forever. I already knew one thing, and I would have to admit it to myself eventually:

I was attracted to Kai.

I felt something constrict in my chest, and my breath caught as I allowed the impact of the realization to wash over me, pushing away the nagging reminder that Kai was very near right now.  _Well... I don't even know him that well yet,_ I thought, trying to calm my frazzled nerves.  _I mean... how did this happen?_ Shrugging helplessly, I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, pushing my mind to try and make sense of it all. Unfortunately for my brain, my headache would be having none of it, and bit back like an aggravated wolverine. Sighing deeply, I padded over to my bed, slipped back under the sheets, and stared quietly at the bowl of soup Kai had fixed up for me while I was asleep.

In spite of my unease, I allowed myself a small smile - whatever the situation, Kai was certainly turning out to be one hell of a friend so far. I grabbed the bowl of soup and drained it gratefully, letting the warmth seep through me as I drifted off into a troubled sleep, listening to the storm rage outside in the summer night.

\------------------------

My fingertips grazed something soft, my tingling arm dangling pointlessly over the edge of my bed as I woke up the next morning. My head still ached, and I was congested - but the rest had been a decent help, nonetheless. Humming and stretching, I gave Bob a gentle scratch on the back, before rolling out of bed and groaning. Looking out my window, I saw a light rain falling, and sighed gratefully - I'd only need to tend to Homer today.

As I slipped through my half-open bedroom door to go make coffee, the sound of deep, even breathing from the living room sent a shock through me before the events of yesterday reeled quickly through my mind.

 _Kai._ Or an assassin who sucked at stealth, waiting for the right moment to strike. Rounding the corner into the living room gave me the answer. I leaned against the door frame, staring wide-eyed at the tanned, sleeping man curled up on my couch and wearing my shorts and t-shirt. His purple bandana lay on the coffee table, leaving his short, messy black hair uncovered. This solved at least one of the greatest mysteries I'd encountered in the past month.

Feeling more than a little uncertain, I lingered in the doorway for a few minutes, watching him doze peacefully. A small lump formed in my throat, and I quickly turned to go get breakfast started in the kitchen.

A short time later, Kai peeked uncertainly around the corner of the kitchen doorway, his dark eyes darting around for a moment before settling on me. With a broad grin, he came up to me and gave me a hard smack on the back, ignoring my pained grunt.

"Hey, man! Glad to see you up and about!" Despite his infectious enthusiasm, my head still hurt, and I shot him a weak smile as I rubbed my temple. Catching on, he lowered his voice: "Feeling better, though?"

"Well enough," I responded, shrugging, as I turned off the stove and fixed a plate for him. He accepted it gratefully, digging in while I poured a massive cup of coffee for myself. I tilted the pot towards him.

"Nah, I'm good. I get my energy from the sun!"

We both turned our heads to look out of the kitchen window.

"Well, crap," Kai muttered, shrugging. "I... have some energy on reserve, probably."

I snickered. "C'mon, Kai, you're allowed to say you don't like coffee. I have orange juice, too."

Kai raised his hands in surrender. "That'd be fine by me!"

After breakfast was finished, I rinsed the dishes off in the sink... only to find Kai drying them off and putting them away. I watched uncomfortably for a few seconds, before clearing my throat to catch his attention.

He grinned apologetically, averting his eyes. "Just repayment for the breakfast is all."

"But you already did a lot for me," I pointed out, taking the remaining plates from him and setting them away. "I mean..." Avoiding his gaze, I began to rummage around in the cabinets to get clean bowls and food for Bob. "I mean, you..." My face went warm as the rest of the sentence died on the tip of my tongue. It was a lot, all at once - my brain had blown the whistle, sending all my thoughts to lunch.

"Well... anyone would've done the same, I'm sure," Kai insisted, but he hung over by the table afterwards. Once I was finished setting down fresh food and water for Bob, Kai spoke up again: "It looks like the weather's let up."

A small twinge of disappointment stirred in my stomach as I followed his gaze out of the window. His expression was unreadable. "That's good... least that means I can take it easy today."

"You gonna be okay, then?" Kai asked, glancing sideways at me.

Part of me wanted to suddenly develop a roiling wave of nausea that would convince him that I was too ill to function without his presence. Another part immediately dismissed the idea as pathetic and helped pop the answer out of my mouth: "I... I think I can manage."  _And I can sort this all out without the distraction._

"I guess I should be heading back for now. Err-" He looked down at the clothes he was wearing, giving a nervous chuckle. "Wouldn't be good manners to steal your clothes, though."

After Kai changed back into his now-clean work clothes, and after I insistently draped my raincoat over his head at his protests, he turned and bid me goodbye. "And I'll stop by and return this tomorrow! Promise!" But when he spun back around to leave, my hand shot out to catch him by the shoulder.

"Kai, wait!" It was out before I could stop myself.

He shot me a puzzled look over his shoulder, and my throat worked to get out what I wanted to say - whatever it was. "I... well... thank you," I sputtered. "And - and take care, okay?"

He nodded, giving me a broad, pleased smile - his eyes were dancing again. "Of course, Jack!" Waving, he spun around. "Guess I'll be seeing you around, then!" Off he splashed, in a flash of flapping yellow vinyl.

I watched him go with a mixture of relief and disappointment, grunting in annoyance as I grabbed my umbrella and headed to the stable to tend to Homer.

 _How did this even happen?_ I thought for the fiftieth time in five minutes, dragging the brush through Homer's mane once more, before holding out a carrot for him to inhale. I'd never really given much thought to anything along those lines before, and I couldn't quite figure out the whats and the whys.  _I mean... it's not like I've ever been with anyone before, but - I never thought I'd have a crush on a_ guy,  _either. Does that make me... well, is it even that important? Maybe... maybe I shouldn't bother wondering. It_ happened _, and I'm just... just going to..._

Another what for me to figure out. What to do, how to handle it, what should I say, should I say anything at all, was I overreacting - groaning in frustration, I trudged back inside my house, popping two aspirin and flopping down on the couch to watch The Shogi Hour. Mind-numbing boredom was just the ticket I needed right now, to stop thinking about his sparkling brown eyes, his vibrant and generous nature, his bare, tan legs-

"Shut up, mind," I snapped, ratcheting the volume up. The same pawn, the same pawn, the same pawn - thrilling Sunday morning tension that brought a tear to my eye and a rustle to my jimmies. It was still infinitely better than dwelling on the tangled jumble of new feelings that had gradually worked their way into a violent tempest inside me.

I needed some answers, and fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, look at that! Jack has a crush! Aww! And all the angst that comes with the fact that it's completely new to him.
> 
> Well, what'll come of it? We'll just have to see. This is turning a little more serious than I initially envisioned at this stage of the story, though I'm hoping the whimsical part is still coming through - and handling the HG's part in it is certainly going to prove tough. Well, you grow and you learn as you go along. Anyway, thanks to those reading and following along so far, and another round of thanks to my friend Alyssa for her feedback and overall great guidance! See you guys in chapter 4!


	5. Chapter 4: Days Go By

The funny thing about being lost, and confused, and wanting answers, was that you usually wound up not knowing what the hell it was you wanted to ask in the first place. You wanted to know what was going on, sure. And you kind of knew anyway, at least a little bit, but you were still baffled regardless. So you ended up just putting things off to clear your head some, and avoiding the people involved... maybe with a pile of work and social obligations.

"Ah, damn, gonna be late for my haircut with Mrs. Welvin," I reasoned on Monday, making a U-turn away from the direction of the hot springs. I munched on the strawberries I'd brought with me, stealing furtive glances over my shoulder. Nothing. Good.

Tuesday wasn't that much better - wasps had moved into the apple tree by my bedroom, and I spent the better part of the evening being treated by Trent and Elli for the myriad of stings I'd acquired in my genocidal rampage.

On Friday, the 1st of June, it rained out Opening Day. It was rescheduled for Saturday, which just so happened to be when I had tons of laundry to do. As I lay in bed that night, I tried to force out the mental image of Kai rising triumphantly from the sea in his wet, clingy swim trunks. This only led to him suddenly turning into a reverse merman with the head of an angler fish. I woke up in a cold sweat the following Sunday morning.

Gray wound up winning anyway, as I learned from Popuri on Monday, when I stopped by Chicken Lil's to return a book I'd borrowed on raising chickens. The afternoon was spent waffling on the price of a pair of hen and rooster chicks together, or simply playing gender roulette with incubated eggs. I wound up taking the newly-named Luigi and Daisy home that evening, Popuri carrying the excited young chicks, while Rick and I lugged massive bags of feed behind us.

"HI, I'M DAISY!" Popuri squeaked, nodding Daisy in Luigi's direction. Rick and I shared an amused glance and rolled our eyes.

By the following weekend, I'd managed to steal some time in the mines, hoping to churn up some decent ores so I could whip my beat-up watering can into shape. My fields were getting fuller, and taking on all the watering by myself at this rate was getting too taxing.

I hugged the rocky hillside and quickly nudged my way past the waterfall, gulping audibly as my eyes darted around every which way, hoping the Harvest Goddess wouldn't ambush me and inquire about my absence - provided she cared that much. I nearly karate-chopped Gray when I bumped into him on my way out of the mine.

"Crazy asshole," he muttered, stomping inside with his pickaxe.

In-between excuses and the ever-increasing piles of work I deliberately buried myself under, I chanced a festival or two - the Sumo Chicken Competition culminated with Luigi placing a respectable fourth in the Chick Division, while I placed second in the Tomato Festival with Elli and Stu. Kai was absent during the latter, owing to a nasty hangover. "Nobody beats Karen at drinking," Ann said gravely. "But he just keeps trying, the fool..."

The few times I did spot Kai over those three weeks were often marked by exchanging friendly waves from a distance, before I quickly excused myself and went back to work, or whatever other errand I'd decided to throw myself into that day. We exchanged a small amount of chatter, I got my raincoat back alongside a compliment on my haircut (prompting me to almost swallow my own tongue), and I felt myself grow a little more crestfallen each time I sent him on his way. I didn't trust myself to calm my nerves enough around him quite yet.

I did get a high five for Luigi's small victory, though, leaving my hand tingling pleasantly, before I excused myself to gather the yellow ribbon and get Luigi home before Daisy got too lonely. I couldn't help but think I'd heard Kai calling out to me as I left.

June finally came to a relative stop somewhere around the 16th, when I'd run the well dry of excuses and had just about been ready to resort to straight-up procrastination and hermitage. Inwardly chiding myself for my cowardice as I lifted Bob from the bucket of soapy water and wrapped him up in a towel, I spun around to see a rather purple someone heading towards me, deep brown eyes lighting up as our gazes met.

Bob's tail wagged madly under the towel as Kai called out to me, half-jogging towards my farm, his bright smile making my stomach flip. Ducking into my house would be too blatant at this point, even if I was cradling a wet, barking dog in my arms. As easy as it was to ignore the Harvest Goddess, I couldn't go on avoiding  _Kai_  forever, could I? But what  _could_  I do?

As it turned out, he answered for me:

"What's up, man? I've been wanting to ask you something, but..." His gaze focused slightly above mine, and I felt a python-sized tendril of guilt constricting my stomach when he continued: "Well, I guess you've been busy." He nodded at Bob, who once again barked happily and squirmed halfway out of the towel to sniff enthusiastically at Kai's grinning face. "Hope this isn't a bad time?" he added, ruffling the damp, curly mop Bob had recently started growing back out.

 _Yes, I still haven't worked out how to approach you at the moment,_ I didn't say, instead nodding dumbly. The thought suddenly struck that Kai could misconstrue my actions as a, "Yes, this is a bad time," so I rapidly shifted into shaking my head.  _No, you're right, this is a bad time._ Well, that wasn't going to work, either. Shit. Wasn't there sign language for these kinds of questions?

At Kai's confused, slightly upset glance, I waved awkwardly. "Shampoo fumes," I lied, shrugging. "Made me a bit dizzy. Wooooo."

Kai stared at me, eyebrows raised.

"Wooo," I repeated helplessly.  _Yes, yes, that's right. Think me an idiot, Kai. Do it! This may make it easier._ I wasn't sure if this meant my brain was working with me or against me. I certainly  _felt_  like an idiot, either way.

"You're not... sick again, are you?" Kai asked worriedly, his hand hovering in the air, as if unsure of whether or not to check my temperature.

Shaking my head to clear it, I motioned for him to follow me inside, hefting Bob under one arm. "Probably not."  _In a sense, maybe._  "Anyway, now's not a bad time, don't worry. Make yourself at home," I called, heading to the linen closet to grab a dry towel and a comb for Bob. "I've just gotta get some stuff, gimme a moment." Mentally kicking myself for my poor hosting abilities as I padded back into the living room and sat down on the floor with Bob, I hastily added, "You thirsty or anything?"

Kai shook his head, scooting off the couch and sitting down across from me and Bob. "Nah, I'm good. I'm only gonna be here a second."

Torn between sagging in relief or disappointment, I simply nodded as I began toweling Bob off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kai looking a bit hesitant. Not good. What if I'd blown him off too much?

 _Calm down. He hasn't even said why he's here yet. Geez._ I gave him a small, encouraging smile.

"You... just got here around the start of the year, right?" Kai began, eyeing me thoughtfully.

"Yep, January. Why?"

"Well, in about a week... actually, next Sunday, we've got another festival coming up in town," Kai explained, watching with rapt curiosity as I carefully began combing out tangles and knots in Bob's fur. "The Fireworks Festival, that is. You visited here as a kid, right?" he added quickly.

My curiosity was fully piqued now, and I looked up at him. "Yeah, but only in spring. I've never been to that festival, actually. Only heard of it."

This seemed to cheer him up considerably. "It's excellent! It's loud, and colorful, and mesmerizing! It's like you're watching the sky blossom!" In spite of my nerves, I smiled. His enthusiasm was extremely cute. Catching himself, he cleared his throat in embarrassment, and continued contritely: "Well... you get the idea. I think it's one of the best ones, actually, even better than the Firefly Festival."

That particular festival sounded foreign to me, but I shrugged it off. I still had more to learn about Mineral Town, after all. "Sounds amazing," I agreed, feeling my heart beat a bit quickly as I started to work out where this was going. He wasn't...?

Nodding and looking a bit more confident, Kai went on: "And I know a great spot to watch the fireworks from, too. The summit of Mother's Hill. You get a really great view, and after it's over... it's really dreamlike. Peaceful. Lets you stop, and think a bit..." He paused, looking pensive for a moment, before snapping out of it. "Anyway, I dunno if you've got plans that night, or what, but... if you don't...?"

"I don't," I responded immediately, feeling my face burn.  _Is he...? Well, he's trying to make friends with you, just the same as always, that's all... don't get ridiculous about this._  His dazzling smile didn't help matters.  _Jesus, that's hypnotic._ "I'd love to go," I added, almost unnecessarily, my face growing even warmer as I absentmindedly combed the same spot on the top of Bob's head over and over again.

"Awesome!" Pulling himself up off the floor, Kai bounced slightly on his feet and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, his dark eyes twinkling. "I'll meet up with you around seven that night, okay? It should start about the time we reach the summit."

"That... that sounds great," I agreed, struggling to swallow my heart back down before it wrestled its way out onto my tongue. I could already feel it beating against my throat, my brain too busy hyper-analyzing the situation to bother telling it to sit down in my chest where it belonged.

"Well, I've gotta be heading out," Kai announced, giving Bob a last ruffle on the head and messing up his mop - though Bob and I honestly didn't care - and nodding at me. His hand hovered above my shoulder for a second, before patting it, and I felt my skin tingle. "I'll see you next Sunday, then?"

"Of course! Well, and maybe before then," I added, feeling a bit dumb for voicing it out loud. No need to make the avoidance even worse in the meantime. Regardless, he looked pleased.

"Can't wait! Well, see ya, then!"

I tried to tear my gaze away from the sight of his impressive, jean-clad backside as he headed towards the front door.  _I need to quit._  What was I doing? He suddenly stopped and turned, and I gulped and looked up. I'd been caught. No getting out of it now.

"And, Jack?"

 _Sorry, Kai. I didn't mean to check out your butt, seriously. I'm not usually like that. Won't happen again, I swear. Attracted to you? Oh, right, about that._ It all condensed into a single "Yes?"

"Really, don't be a stranger, okay?" He gave me another smile, but his face was serious now. Exchanging nods once more, he left me to finish drying and combing Bob.

Everything only served to fuel my wonders and worries even more - I had to say something to him sooner or later, and he'd just provided me with either the perfect opportunity, or the worst possible one. I wasn't sure which, when I couldn't even convince myself of his intentions - I knew enough to not trust myself to read things correctly, no matter how suspect the conditions might be. Regardless, next Sunday would certainly be a big day for us both. I was absolutely sure of that.

Not to mention, I had another social visit to stop putting off...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, THAT took forever for such a short set-up chapter. I wasn't sure how to handle the passage of time - I originally wanted to set the festival in late July, but since I'd established the story as starting in late May, I kind of had to work a little quicker. This is what I wound up with. The perils of setting it in a particular time frame... (and trying to fit the Harvest Moon world's bizarre seasonal calendars to reality... I decided to borrow a festival from another HM, as well, simply because I love the Firefly Festival, and think it'd be great for Mineral Town to have.)
> 
> Anyway, thanks to honerelle for the feedback, blehgah for the kudos and to you there - yeah, you, with the face, you sexy act of science - for reading along! And with that, we'll meet again in chapter 5... now with extra fiber!


	6. Chapter 5: Tell Me

The Harvest Goddess seemed to freeze in place, only idly continuing to munch away at the now-mushy strawberry rolling around in her mouth as she stared at me with wide, green eyes.

"Oh, wow," she muttered, eyebrows shooting up. "Man, I didn't expect  _this_  to happen... well, I suppose anything can," she added as an afterthought, but my attention zeroed in on the first half of her statement.

"Expect it to... why? Expect what to happen?" I eyed her suspiciously, feeling myself shiver a bit. "What did you do?!" My hands unexpectedly flew to my stomach, and I patted it frantically. "Y-You didn't make me  _pregnant,_ did you?"

Silence dropped down to hang between us, like a cheap cardboard stage prop. Only the rushing of the waterfall and the competitive chirps of birds and cicadas dared to challenge it.

The Harvest Goddess smacked me upside the head. "What kind of lunatic do you think I am?!" she snapped. "Hell no! I  _learn_  from my mistakes!" Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut, muttering darkly to herself as I scowled and rubbed the spot where her hand had struck. Fixing her piercing green gaze back on me, she folded her arms. "For your information,  _my_  only intentions were for you guys to become friends. You get along with most of the villagers... this is just a lucky side effect. I can't exactly  _make_  people become infatuated with each other, though..."

This admission hadn't been what I'd expected. "Uhh, thanks," I began slowly, "but... I  _have_  friends... not that I'm ungrateful or anything!" I added quickly, holding my hands out defensively as she opened her mouth to speak again. "He's a cool guy, but-"

I stopped. But what? I slouched in defeat, jamming my hands into my pockets. There  _was_  that pesky crush hanging over me... but all-in-all, I'd run down the list of my reasons for wanting to confront the Goddess over these developments. That very list had only gotten smaller as I'd thought more about it. Now, the rest was up to me.

"Well, I know there might be...  _complications,_ " she added thoughtfully, tapping her chin. Her words caught my attention, and at my questioning gaze, she wagged her finger at me. "Oh, come on. You  _know_  what I'm talking about..."

I shook my head, but stopped myself - there  _was_  something I'd been... ignoring? Or just plain ignorant of... Maybe this wasn't something I wanted to pursue yet, after all. Not a possible fling with someone I hardly knew, that would only be over in a month or two. Seemed pointless.

"I mean, maybe you two could work something out," the Harvest Goddess continued, shrugging. "Let's cut the crap here: Why do you think he invited you to the Fireworks Festival, anyway? He took to you pretty quickly," she finished, smirking.

I nodded slowly. I hadn't exactly been willing to admit it completely to myself - or, at the very least, hadn't wanted to jump to it as a foregone conclusion. It seemed a bit arrogant, like assuming you got a job because the interview went fine, or thinking you passed a test because you didn't second-guess any of the answers. Maybe it was different hearing someone else agree with the suspicions, though.

"Guess I'm just going to have to figure out what to do about it," I mumbled, scuffing the toe of my boot against the grass. "...Maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself here, though."

"I'll leave that up to you to figure out," the Goddess told me. "Like I said, I did what  _I_  set out to do, and romance isn't an area I'm allowed to dabble in anymore. Sorry."

I waved off her apology. "Nah, at least I've got a friendship out of this, I guess, right?"

She drummed her fingertips on her elbows and nodded, looking at me with a strange expression on her face. "Yeah. I suppose you do, don't you?"

As we parted ways, more questions flitting around my head now, the unspoken thought split in two, trailing behind each of us:

That friendship could be rickety if it didn't get navigated just right. I had two more days to figure out how I was going to handle it.

\------------------------

Sunday blazed down on Mineral Town - bright, harsh, and unforgivably humid in the wake of Friday and Saturday's passing storms. I found myself taking frequent breaks in the shade of the apple tree by my bedroom, listening to the hypnotic screeches of cicadas, and watching dragonflies flit lazily around the field. They knew better than to disturb my flourishing bounty. With all the pent-up anxiety brimming just under my skin, I would only leave their civilization in flames.

My mind was hazy and sticky, gummed up in the sweltering heat - I hadn't quite settled on a game plan for how to navigate my time with Kai in a few short hours. Most of my conclusions fell somewhere into the same general area: "Just go with your intuition". To keep my brain from further veering out of control and into panic mode, I simply settled on this all-too-blatant suggestion. Mulling over it any more would just be pointless.

The sun began to finally set around six-thirty, leering over the top of Chicken Lil's as I herded Luigi and Daisy back into their coop. My heart began hammering faster and faster through my shower, and by the time I was dressed and waiting for Kai outside, I felt like I'd swallowed two balloons, and my ribs were trying to deflate them.

"Hey! You ready?"

I jumped off the railing of my porch a bit too eagerly, running over to greet Kai. "Yeah... up the hill, right?"

He nodded happily, and we set off, hands stuffed in the pockets of our shorts as we both lapsed into small talk:

"Sorry I haven't stopped by the diner lately. How's it going?"

"Pretty good... think I've got some new recipes I wanna try. How's the farm?"

"Coming along alright."  _Unlike the conversation,_ I thought, feeling a small ripple of panic flash through my body.  _I'm sure he's just as nervous as you are,_ my mind desperately reassured me, listening to Kai humming to himself as we passed the lake. "So..." I began, not entirely sure where I even wanted the conversation to go - anywhere not awkward. "When did you start coming up here for the fireworks?" An owl hooted from the nearby grove, the summit bobbing into view.

"I guess... maybe about seven years ago?" Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him shrugging. We approached a pine tree at the summit and sat down beneath it, leaning our backs against the broad trunk. "Rick and I never really got along, but I'm really close with Karen and Popuri," Kai continued, looking out to the sky. "But whenever I'd try to sit with one of them at the festival, he'd always start bitching and griping, and I'd start bitching and griping back, and everyone would get upset. So for a few years, Karen just got the idea to come up here, without telling him. He got  _pissed_."

He cracked a small smile. "I mean, we've made our peace since then - still not the best of friends, or anything. But we... uh, coexist, I guess." His eyes shone. "And I still like watching the fireworks from up here. You'll see why in a minute!"

I started to ask about why Kai and Rick used to fight, but thought better of it - no point raising that back from the dead. Not when I had so much riding on this one night. Stretching out my legs, I grunted happily. "Well, I've never actually seen the fireworks before, so this'll be a great intr- whoa,  _hello!_ "

My words were yanked away from me by a piercing whistle, soaring higher and higher into the starry black sky before a loud  _pop_  and a huge, bright burst of green sparks followed. A few seconds later, a blue firework blossomed far above our heads, followed by yellow, pink, white, red - too many colors to keep track of. Even though I'd seen fireworks before, I still felt light-headed seeing them this close.

With a jolt, I realized my fingers and Kai's had become intertwined at some point, and chanced a glance over at him - if he noticed at all, he wasn't showing any signs of it. He was grinning broadly, watching the fireworks, the sparkling colors shining and dancing across his dark eyes. Allowing myself a small smile, I leaned back against the tree and turned my gaze to the sky once more, even as I moved my hand away from his. I thought I saw him look my way, but turned my own eyes back up.

My stomach flipped as the finale exploded into the sky - a massive burst of noise and colors, each firework leaving no time for the preceding one to fade out before claiming its own spot. Even if I wanted to say anything at this point, it was too loud. I sure as hell wasn't eager to spoil the awe and excitement, or the odd sense of peace of the moment.

Once the sky was hazy with the fading smoke, however, the weight dropped firmly back into my stomach. A countdown began in my head, wondering where the night would go from here - fireworks over, time to go home. A perfect opportunity to work up the nerve to say something to Kai, right? I flashed a nervous grin at him as the silence spiraled back into place around us, still feeling the warmth of his hand tingling on my own.

"Damn," I managed, chuckling. "You were right."

"It's a gift," Kai responded, laughing lightly. "Glad you liked it, though."

"We'll definitely have to do this again next year," I added eagerly, clambering onto my feet and stretching my legs. There was enough time heading down the hill to say  _something,_  right? To work up a way to approach it? Even with the suspicions I had, actually addressing them was another matter entirely... let alone just blurting out how  _I_ felt. Helping Kai up, we turned and started making our way back down the hill.

It seemed oddly anticlimactic, to me: Go up, see fireworks, head back home. Part of me wished I'd stayed up there with him for a bit longer, just talking about whatever came to mind. Just chatting as the night wore on, growing closer - bonding. Strengthening our friendship. Actually getting to know him better, finding out if I'd been justified in letting my world get flipped over my feelings for this person I'd only known less than a month.

Well... there would still be time for that later, wouldn't there? Even after he left a few months later... we could always write...

Holding the twinge of regret firm, I shoved it back down into the recesses of my mind and uttered a blatant lie: "You know, I think I'll be sleeping pretty well after tonight." The level of cheer in my voice astounded me. If farming didn't work out, maybe acting would.

Kai shot me a puzzled look, and I shrugged. "I mean... well, it was a good night, that's all," I finished lamely, giving a weak chuckle as my hands crammed themselves into my pockets.

Kai kept his eyes on me even while we passed the lake, listening to the peaceful chirping of the crickets. "Are you okay, man? You're kinda..." He gestured at me. "Kinda fidgety."

 _Surprised you don't know why..._ I shrugged. Hell, he probably  _did_  know. He wasn't stupid. "Nah. I'm fine.  _Really_ ," I insisted, waving my hands defensively when his expression grew more skeptical. His response was unusually curt:

"If you say so."

Stung by the sharpness in his voice, I sighed, slowing down my steps right by the bridge leading back to my farm. Kai came to a stop right beside me, eyebrows raised curiously, rocking back and forth on his feet as he looked to me for an explanation.

"Well... okay. I just wanted to..." I fumbled for the words. This was difficult. Way too difficult, more than it should have been. "I... thank you, for everything you've done-" His expression grew a bit panicked, and triggered a sort of chain reaction in me. "No, I mean, really, I appreciate it! And I - just want to know if you'd... be up to going to the Firefly Festival next month. Is all. Yeah." I expelled all my breath in a deep  _whoosh_ , and exchanged a wry smile with him. "If you want to."

Kai chuckled and clapped me on the shoulder. "Jack, you're something else..."

 _You should see me when I'm not acting like a dimwit._ "So... is that... a no?"

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Kai asked quietly, ignoring my question. We started walking again, passing the chicken coop.

I cast my eyes to the ground. Yeah, definitely acting like an idiot. "I... guess so..."  _I would also like to say that I have the hots for you. Bad time, I'm sure._ Mentally kicking myself with each wordless step we took towards my house, I felt a pang in my chest. Maybe the Firefly Festival would be a better time...

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," I muttered awkwardly, my gaze dancing between Kai's eyes - did I see disappointment? Irritation? Was I just looking for what I wanted to find? - and the porch railing. The countdown timer in my head ticked loudly, down to mere seconds now. "Thanks again, Kai." My words were lost beneath the sirens and klaxons blaring loudly.

"Of course... anytime." Chest heaving with a loud sigh, Kai nodded and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "And... Jack, maybe I should - I want to just-"

I perked up hopefully, only to see Kai falter - the concept alone was bizarre, almost foreign. Kai didn't seem the nervous type. "What?" I pressed, wringing my hands behind my back. One of my feet tapped of its own accord. "Is something wrong?"

"No - not really. It - I guess it can wait," Kai mumbled, bitterness creeping into his words.

The hell it could. This coy crap had to stop. One of us had to say something about the matter, and I couldn't see myself working out my knotted tongue anytime soon. "C'mon," I managed pleadingly, laying a hand on his arm.

Kai sighed, and I felt my heart beat faster. Of all the times for him to become completely serious, to not even act like Kai. "Jack, I think you already know, so why-"

"Then just say it!" I cut in urgently, surprised at the insistence in my voice. The alarms shut off, leaving me shouting in thick silence. "I don't - Kai, I... look, we both - are we really gonna dance aro-"

My breath was knocked away in mid-sentence, with only a few soft touches - warm hands on my shoulder and cheek, and...

And...

...Was he kissing me...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Jack. He snapped your neck. You're narrating this post-mortem. Oh, uhh, spoilers.
> 
> Well, if neither of them can spit it out, the direct approach always works, right? I got stuck on this chapter for the longest time (when work, illness, and holidays weren't dragging me down) - first because I had to stop and seriously re-evaluate where I'd planned to take the story; then, trying to balance the situation and characterizations just so. Tough act, that. But, you gotta keep moving and grow, right?
> 
> Now what? Well, you'll see when I get around to chapter 6... and a big thanks, by the way, to everyone following along so far! Whether you're just reading along, or reviewing, following, and/or favoriting - thank you! Special thanks to my friend Alyssa for being a huge help with her feedback and suggestions thus far.


	7. Chapter 6: Keep it to Myself

I felt the ground drop out from beneath my feet - a simple act had caused my emotions to surge madly and manifest as wild sensations throughout my stunned, still body. My heart pounded madly in me as I absorbed the feel of our lips pressed together, and his hand resting on the back of my head. It was as though I could feel every last individual blood cell coursing through me, amplified by the immensely pleasant jolt shivering down my spine.

Seconds later - maybe even minutes, centuries, who knew anymore? - Kai pulled away from me, and it was all over. Opening my eyes, not even remembering closing them to begin with - I stared blankly at him, unconsciously licking my lips. They were still so warm.

"Huh," I managed, making a robotic hand gesture and spitting out a series of one-word statements: "Um. Wow. Sweet. Finally."

Kai cracked a small smile and let out a little snort of laughter, his eyes lighting up a little. "First kiss, huh?"

I nodded dumbly, trying to wrangle the herd of emotions still stampeding wildly throughout me. I had to stop sounding like an idiot at some point. "Yeah," I croaked, rubbing a thumb over my lower lip. "...You?" Not quite detached from idiocy yet.

I felt a tiny pang of something when Kai shook his head and shrugged. "Don't worry. You're not the first person I've left speechless before."

Pushing aside the obnoxiously curious desire to ask if they'd been guys or girls, I stammered a few syllables before finally settling on a fail-safe compliment. "I... I can't say I'd blame them."

Returning Kai's wider smile with a small one of my own, I jammed my hands into the pockets of my shorts and shuffled my feet around awkwardly, not sure where to look anymore. "So... this... this is new," I admitted sheepishly. "So, how do we do this? I mean, is there some kind of - of a... an itinerary or s-why are you laughing?"

"I'm not laughing," Kai lied from behind his hand.

Stuffing away a small part of my nervousness, I crossed my arms and cocked my head to the side, closing my eyes and nodding. "Mmm, I must've heard wrong. Too bad. I was hoping to shut you up by kissing you again."

When I opened my eyes again, Kai was looking at me with a mixture of shock and interest; apparently, I actually _had_  just said that out loud. Smirking a little at my own nerve, I added, "But maybe I will anyway - alright, you ARE laughing this time!"

"No I'm not," Kai responded a bit too quickly, giving a very unconvincing cough. "It's just hot out. Making you crazy. You... crazy... bastard, you. Eheheh."

"Nothing new there," I muttered, shrugging. Locking eyes with him, I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, all of my spur-of-the-moment smoothness suddenly expended. "Well... guess we're dating now, huh?"

My lips pulled into a dorky smile as I heard how those words sounded out loud. In spite of my reservations, in spite of the fact that an important question still hung in the air - like hell I was going to ask it right now and blow my high - a step forward had finally been taken.

Kai took another step toward me, grabbing my hand and rubbing the palm with his thumb. "Yup. Don't worry, I'll walk you through the... uh, procedure, if you want some pointers."

"Ah, shut up," I responded with a wry smile, flicking his nose lightly with my free hand; he responded by crinkling up his nose some. "I'll do fine, you'll see! Here, listen: Are you busy this Wednesday afternoon?"

He grinned and shook his head. "Got a plan?"

"I do! Yeah! Uhh..." My brain was still in a bit of a giddy stupor, sending my mouth stumbling over my intended invitation. Suddenly feeling a bit foolish, I settled for pointing helplessly at my house. "Lunch? I cook? Four? Movie?" I sounded like I was just learning human speech, counting off each question with my fingers. Thankfully, Kai's enthusiastic nodding put me at ease, and my smile returned tentatively. I was fit to socialize with the modern world after all. "See, Kai? I date real good."

"Looks like you'll be all right after all," he agreed cheerfully, before frowning slightly and swinging his arms back and forth by his sides. "Well... I hate having to do this after all that's happened tonight, but I've gotta hit the hay soon... Duke and Manna are gonna meet someone about expanding the winery's business in the morning, so I'm whipping up breakfast for them at the shack."

"Well, I'll see you Wednesday, then," I said, feeling only a slight dip in my raging elation. "And here and there, maybe." Glancing out of the corners of my eyes briefly, and seeing nobody nearby, I tentatively put one hand on his shoulder, the other settled tensely in the middle of his back. Feeling his fingers caress my cheek and settle on the small of my back, our eyes closed and we leaned in towards each other.

When our lips parted again, I felt my heart pounding uncontrollably in my chest and my back tingling where he'd stroked it through my shirt; my sunburned face was even warmer than usual.

"You kiss real good too," Kai teased, ruffling my hair and eliciting a playful eye-roll from me. "Sweet dreams, man."

"You too, you handsome pain in the ass," I replied, squeezing his hand. "Hey, tell me how the meeting goes, yeah? I'll be surprised if Mrs. Lipschitz stops babbling long enough to let the client talk."

"Why the hell would she talk if she can have my food in her mouth?" Kai answered confidently. "I'll be surprised if anyone talks. Oh! Speaking of, maybe I can bring a little something to go with your lunch Wednesday?"

I nodded. "I'd love that! Maybe some wine or something...?" At his nod, I nodded back, then jammed my hands back into my pockets. "Well... see ya later, then..."

We parted, smiling like fools, Kai's pleased humming cutting through the muggy night air. I couldn't help but find myself humming, too.

"Hey, Bob," I called as I slipped inside, shutting the door and leaning against it like a giddy teenager. "Tonight _kicked ass._ "

Bob looked up at me from his spot on the couch, the colorful images of a loud western dancing across him from the TV, before yawning and flopping his head back down with a dismissive snort. Jealousy was a terrible thing.

With a shrug, I grabbed a beer from the fridge and plopped down next to Bob, riding out the rest of the movie before calling it a night.

And, despite it feeling like a total lie when I'd said it to Kai earlier, I really did sleep pretty damn well that evening.

\------------------------

Canvassing the area for rogue villagers wandering around at night before kissing Kai had seemed like a sound method at the time. Having grown up in a considerably less-nosy neighborhood, however, I hadn't counted on an audience hovering around in the warm glow of lit-up, small-town windows.

"Someone's in looooove," Popuri sang teasingly to me on Monday morning, flashing me an impish grin from her side of the fence dividing our farms.

I felt myself go stiff at her words, watering the same patch of tomatoes far longer than necessary as I looked up at her. "O-oh?" I sputtered, failing to sound natural. "Congrats, Poppy. Wh-who's the l-lucky guy?"

"Ah-ah!" she scolded, wagging a finger at me in a playful manner as she scooped up a wandering chicken in her free arm. "You can't fool me, Jack Ailes! I saw you kissing Kai last night!" She giggled at my astonished gape, stroking the impassive-looking chicken on its fluffy white back. "It was so cuuuuute! And... kind of hot," she added thoughtfully, a faint blush spreading across her nose. "Oh,  _yeah_."

"...Weren't you at the festival with the  _rest of the town?_ " I groaned. "Kai's not going around blabbing about this, is he?"

She shook her head, pink curls bouncing to and fro. "I don't think he is. I mean, some of us figured he had a thing for you and all, but he didn't actually  _say_ much about it."

Lovely. "How many of you is  _some?_ "

She simply flashed me a dazzling smile, surprisingly Karen-esque in its devious manner. "Oh,  _enough_  of us!" She giggled again, before sighing dramatically. "It kinda stinks, though. I had my eye on him, but..." She shook her head once more. "No hard feelings! Love will find its way to me, and at least I lost to a cute opponent, and not some ugmo!"

"Er, than-"

"Besides," she continued, almost as an afterthought, "if he only likes  _those_ , it's really hard for  _me_  to compete with one of  _these._ " She pointed, to needlessly emphasize her meaning, causing me to shake my head and sigh quietly.

"Thanks for being such a sport, Poppy," I managed warily, finally moving from the practically drowned patch of tomatoes, and on to my pineapples. "Listen, though, just... don't... let's just keep this between us, okay? The whole village doesn't need to know about this." Manna, Anna, and Sasha probably knew everyone's entire past, present and future before even meeting them - but I had my suspicions that they had the town heavily bugged, like a trio of Richard Nixons with boobs.

"No problem, Jackie! I don't think Mr. Saibara likes hearing about all that funny butt stuff, anyway. Well, I'm gonna go take Cornflakes back to the coop! Have fun on your date Wednesday! Bye~!"

"Butt stu-  _are you kidding me?"_  I sputtered at Popuri's now-empty backyard.

It wasn't empty for long, before Rick came clomping over, clutching another chicken - a gray one, this time. "For crying out loud, Rosie - oh, hey, Jack." He narrowed his eyes and wagged an admonishing finger at me before I could return his greeting. "You know, I would've understood if it were Cliff, since he seems like a pretty okay guy, and I don't really care that it  _is_ a guy, but  _Kai?_  Geez, you've got weird taste! I mean, I guess he's... not awful... but that guy's dated more people than a historian! He's a Casanova!"

I slapped my free hand over my face. "Of  _course_  you know about - wait,  _Cliff?_ Seriously? Do I just give off a  _vibe_  or something?"

"He thought you and Cliffie were dating!" Popuri piped up, popping around the side of the coop. "He owes me fifty G!"

" _You'll get your fifty G!"_  Rick screeched, whipping his head violently to glare at her. Looking back at me, he shrugged and frowned. "Like  _Ann's_  letting me hear the end of it... I didn't think he was gonna ask her to the festival! Sheesh! Anyway, you be careful around Kai!" he warned, before stalking back off towards the coop, muttering "He probably  _has_  something at this point" under his breath.

"Can you just  _keep it to yourselves_?" I pleaded, setting my watering can down and getting ready to go into the stable.

Suddenly, Lillia emerged from the Aberlen house, looking frail but cheerful as always.

"Good morning, Mr. Romeo~," she greeted in a sing-song voice, waving, as Popuri helped her down the porch stairs to gather eggs. I could only wave back feebly.

Yeah, this wasn't going to be discreet for long.

\------------------------

By Wednesday, no more word of Sunday night's events had circulated back to me, although I couldn't help but wonder if Sasha was giving me an intrigued glance when I stopped over on Tuesday night to watch TV with Karen and Elli. Karen, too, was eyeing me oddly - no way she  _didn't_  know, close as she was to Kai and Popuri. And if Karen knew, Elli knew. And so on, and so on.

I couldn't quite pin down what was bugging me about this sudden, mostly-unspoken public knowledge, but decided to shrug it off as I let a pot of risotto simmer and peeked into the oven to check on the manicotti and garlic bread. Smelled godly. If Kai hadn't liked me before, my cooking might have done it - at least, it would have from Monday onward, when I'd frantically dug out one of my grandmother's old cookbooks from the cupboards. I'd offered to make lunch for Kai, but I could barely cook anything that wasn't Hamburger Helper or eggs-a-la-whatever. No longer!

Bob snuffled around on the kitchen floor, searching fruitlessly for a spilled drop of tomato sauce or crumb of bread to slurp up, heedless of my legs being in his path.

"Didn't you just eat?" I queried, looking down at him in amusement. "Go destroy my other slipper, you know how I hate unfinished business." A quick nudge of my foot sent him trotting off grumpily as the oven began to beep.

Wringing my hands nervously as I set the dishes on the counter to cool, I darted out of the kitchen for a quick shower and change, hissing and hopping around when I stubbed my toe on the closet door in my rush to get dressed. Thankfully, I managed to dab a bit of cologne on my neck without accidentally snapping it; things were back on track, even as I hobbled slightly over to the door to greet Kai a few minutes later. Snug jeans, white t-shirt tucked in, green vest fitting him just right, bandana off, and his dark hair slicked back - I suddenly felt myself get a few degrees warmer as I took in the sight.

"Between you and the food, this whole place smells great," Kai offered by way of greeting, giving me a crushing bear hug. A bottle of red wine dangled from his left hand, and he nudged me in the back with it. "Manna slipped me some of this Monday, on the house." He stepped back and grinned. "She said it was a gift for holding the business meeting at my place, but she kept winking at me."

"Ah, wonderful," I remarked dryly. "I love free publicity."

Kai chuckled as we sat down at the table with our dinner, taking his glass of wine and raising it slightly. "Take it from someone who knows - you get used to it."

I clinked my glass against his, giving a weak smile and taking a sip. "I got a little taste of it when I moved in a couple months back. Taking over my grandpa's farm, and all."

"Yeah." Kai nodded, taking a small swig of his own wine. "I didn't know Noah that well, but pretty much everyone loved the guy. Makes sense they'd make a big fuss over you." After popping a small chunk of manicotti into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully, he added, "Wow. Didn't know you could cook, too!"

"Me either!" I admitted, trying a bit of it myself. "Mmmm. This is actually my grandma's recipe, so I'll only take credit for the lack of burned-out pasta shells." Prodding a bit at the risotto, I tilted my head. "Hey, back to the yappy townsfolk... what about you?"

Looking a bit nonplussed, Kai shrugged. "Well, I'm no Manna or anything..."

I waved my hand. "Nah, sorry, poor phrasing. I mean... from what you and some of the others indicate, you know, uhh..." I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. "How do I put this?"

" _Oh_ , I think I'm getting it." Shrugging again, Kai leaned back in his chair a bit, waving a bit of bread around as he spoke - between bites. "Well, you know... everyone knows everyone's business around here, right?" At my nod, he shook his head. "Except mine. People don't know much of mine." Looking to the side, he cracked a small smile. "I've been coming here for years, and they've been trying for years. I mean, Karen knows a bit more about me than most, and Gray too. I'm pretty close with them, though."

"Tall, dark, and mysterious stranger, huh?" I teased, getting a small laugh out of him and distracting me from my own burning curiosity.. "Must drive 'em crazy, trying to get anything outta you."

"Drives  _me_  crazy sometimes," Kai admitted, staring pensively at his wine as he swirled it around in the glass. He other arm was dangling back over the end of the chair, almost casually, but he looked tense. "But, I wouldn't keep coming back here if I didn't like the people. I mean, they're still pretty cool."

I nodded. "I hear ya... I've got a couple of friends back in Bartlett Cape that I still keep in touch with, but I feel... like I fit in here more than there. Kind of nice," I admitted happily. "I like Bartlett and all, planning to go back and visit some family and friends there before Christmas. But somewhere a little less hectic works for me."

Looking amused, Kai craned his neck to look out the window at my farm. "A  _farmer_  says, as fall approaches, that this isn't hectic. The hell was it  _like_  over there?"

Smiling, I followed his gaze. "Used to do housekeeping at a beach resort there. Bartlett's pretty big with tourists. Paid well, but it was pretty Popuri."

Silence.

"Wait, what?" I muttered, creasing my brow.

"Yeeeeeah, that... happened," Kai agreed, shooting an odd glance at me. Noticing my fixed gaze, he returned his to the window once more - everything suddenly clicking.

Motioning to him to stay seated, I let out an exasperated sigh and crept slowly to my front window, staying just off to the side. Pressing myself against the curtains bunched to the left, I balled my hand into a fist and rapped loudly on the window.

"GYAAAAH!"

" _Poppy, shut up!"_

"Oh, they know we're here anyway, Karen-"

" _Elli!_ "

Groaning, I threw open the window, pressing my face against the screen to see the three girls jumbled together, flat on their asses. Elli grinned awkwardly.

"Avon calling?" she tried weakly, letting out a nervous giggle as Kai padded over to the window as well, hands tucked into his vest pockets and laughing his ass off.

"Hey, Kai," Karen called, waving and giving a wan smile. Popuri simply blushed and said nothing, looking guilty.

"Afternoon," Kai responded, leaning on the windowsill and flashing his own dazzling grin back. "You hear I was bringing wine?"

She waved it off. "Nah, I'm meeting Rick at the bar later for some of that. We're just nosy."

"Her idea," Elli piped up, jabbing her thumb at Karen. At the latter's amused glance, she shrugged. "What? It was."

"Yeeeeah," Karen said. "And I was actually just about to admit that  _myself_ , though,  _thank_  you. You damn stool pigeon. Remind me to not let you testify if I'm ever on trial."

Elli stuck her tongue out playfully. "You gonna whack me, boss?"

Rubbing my temples, I scowled at them. "I really should whack all three of you! Mind explaining?"

"Mmm, kinda obvious, huh?" Karen answered wryly, helping Popuri up.

"Heheheh. Guess I should've stuck to spying from my window!" Popuri giggled nervously, twirling a lock of hair around her finger and avoiding everyone's eyes. "Looks like we'll be missing the good stuff!"

"Sweetie, you're not helping," Elli said gently as they turned to leave. "Uhhh... well, have fun, guys!" she added, turning back and waving.

"You suck, Elli," I responded, waving in spite of myself - I could and sure as hell would chew them out later. I had better things to get back to, first.

A short time later, Kai and I were laying at opposite ends of the couch, a horror flick on and a large bowl of popcorn resting where our legs touched.

"Moron. They always gotta go in," Kai grunted, shaking his head as a real estate agent was pulled, screaming, into a nursery during open house. "Bet the contractors overlooked  _that_."

I smiled at him and tossed a piece of popcorn at his face. "Jerk. Think of what this'll do to the property values!"

Kai tossed the popcorn into his mouth, sipping his refilled glass of wine. "I'm not sure Clara's in a position to care right -  _ow._  Think she survived  _that?_ "

"Gross. Is that her  _tongue_?" I curled my lip in disgust, looking at my own wineglass. "Cheers, Clara." I drained it quickly, watching as the agent clawed her watch back out of the room, panting and smiling through a bloody mouth. "Hey, it's our buddy!"

"Huh." Kai raised his eyebrows, munching another mouthful of popcorn. "I'd hate to be her right now."

I waved him off. "Ahhh, she seems pretty happy. She's smilin'!"

He shuddered, nonetheless, causing me to tilt my head and sit up in a brief bout of opportunism, setting the bowl on the floor as I gently disentangled our legs..

"Cold?" I asked, scooting aside a bit as he made to sit up as well. He said nothing, looking rather pleased as we repositioned ourselves, leaning against each other with one arm around the other's shoulder. Much better.

A half-hour later, the majority of the wine and popcorn was gone, and Monsignor Suarez had taken out Clara with a shotgun, before being strangled with his own rosary.

"God don't like you killin' people," I sighed, laying my head atop Kai's. "Kai, tell him... mmm, your hair smells amazing."

"My hair smells amazing," Kai repeated absently, stroking my back. I smiled and poked him in the ribs, causing him to let out a surprisingly shrill giggle. "Hey, man, I'm ticklish there!" He poked me back, and I couldn't help but emit a high-pitched squeal of my own. "Haha, you sound like your window!"

"You  _are_  my window," I shot back, resting my head on his once more. The possessed zombie of Monsignor Suarez set fire to a police station on-screen. "That's illegal."

"So's your face," Kai chimed in, rubbing my arm. "Your... handsome... handsome... face."

"Yours is handsomer," I whispered back tipsily, our dark, bleary eyes locking intensely. When I sobered up later, I would find myself hoping that Kai had remembered me saying something less idiotic.

He hadn't.

Despite the idiocy of my statement, he seemed to take no umbrage with it - breath smelling of garlic and Merlot, our lips met as we exhaled loudly, our fingers tracing light paths on our shoulders through our shirts. My left hand found the back of Kai's head, pressing down on it, my right hand stroking down his side and resting on his hip. He stroked my cheek and my jean-clad thigh, breathing a slightly needy moan into my mouth.

With the carnage on-screen suddenly lost beneath our panting and sighing, I felt my own lips part, my tongue beginning to dart playfully with Kai's - a friendly but passionate competition, the only goal being to get the other to make the most enjoyable noises.

Feeling Kai's hands slip under my button-down shirt to stroke my stomach through my undershirt, I pulled my mouth away from his, burying the fingers of both hands into his thick hair as he began kissing down my jawbone, down my throat - I felt his groin make contact with mine and gasped at the dual sensations, feeling us rubbing together excitedly as his fingers started undoing the buttons on my shirt-

_How far you gonna go before he leaves after summer?_

With a start, I bolted up straight, jolting Kai out of the lusty haze with me. Noting his worried glance, I got my breathing under control - easier to do than for my pounding heart -and leaned back against the couch, sighing. "Sorry. I'm - I'm just... maybe that's a little too fast for the second date."

He nodded slowly, running a hand through his hair and looking contrite. "No, you're right. I... sorry. I kind of got... carried away..."

"We both did," I admitted, shrugging and shaking my head. I paused the movie. "I mean, it... it was fun. Damn fun. But... there'll be time to get to that kind of fun later."

_Right?_

Willing my mind to shut up as Kai nodded in agreement, I picked up the popcorn and wineglasses, setting them on the coffee table and buttoning my shirt back up. "I still enjoyed myself tonight," I added, smiling at Kai as we stood up and made for the front door.

He clapped me on the shoulder, squeezing my arm lightly and returning my smile. "Same here. You really do date real good, handsome."

"Let's pretend I was tipsy when I said that, too," I offered, drawing him into a quick hug.

One brief, but lingering kiss later, he turned to slip outside, when he turned back. "Hey, umm... maybe we can get together before then, but... Saturday after next, on the seventh? Firefly Festival's gonna be going on..."

I found myself nodding even before I could even think to ask the obvious question: "Sure. What is it?"

"Ah." Kai rubbed the back of his neck. "Weeelllll... it's..."

"Are you going to murder me?" I asked in a mock Russian accent, leaning against the doorway.

"Funny you should mention death," he muttered, glancing at the porch. "I mean, uh. It.. like, up in Echo Town it's kind of a dating thing, they just adopted it recently. Mayor up there makes festivals out of  _everything_ , it sounds a little exhausting. But... in Castanet and, err, Flower Bud... well, and here, uhh..."

I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms.

"Kind of... honoring the... umm, deceased," Kai finished uncomfortably, letting his words sink under the cries of the cicadas in the slowly-darkening sky.

I looked up at the sky and spotted a lone, brilliant star. "Huh. Well... I don't mind, sure. It actually sounds... kind of nice."

"Meet at eight, by the hot spring?"

I turned my head in the direction of Mother's Hill, a new thought beginning to form in my head. "Sure thing. See you before then?"

"I certainly wouldn't mind," he agreed, laughing softly. "Well... hey, tell me how that movie ends, okay?"

I mock-saluted. "Scout's honor. Night. Be safe going home."

"You too," he teased. "Night, handsome."

Watching him turn at the corner to pass Chicken Lil's and the Yodel Ranch, I let out a dopey sigh, before turning around and leaning back against my closed door once more - this time, breathing a bit heavier than the night of the Fireworks Festival.

Sinking to the floor, I raked my hands nervously through my hair, doing the worst thing I could at the tail end of my emotional high - letting it crash under all the doubt on my mind.

I wasn't sure how I'd gotten myself drawn in this deep, this quickly, without being too sure of where things might go. Where he might go. If I wanted to risk being the person who either waits the majority of the year for a fleeting fling, or...

_It's just barely started._  I let out a deep breath, resting my head against the door.  _So... when do I ask him about that?_

And how badly did I really want to find out the answer?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Yeah, I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever come to back to this, but... well, sometimes the bug just bites. For reasons even I still can't understand, a second watch of Big Hero 6 got the bug chomping down for... this story. That and a massive Story of Seasons binge. I won't go into the hectic flurry that has been the past 2 years, but I'll see where this ends up. I do intend to eventually finish it, but we'll see how that holds up with the demands of my new job.
> 
> So, Jack isn't sure how deep he wants to get into this thing with Kai. Or maybe he has a plan in mind...? And maybe he'll finally get Kai to open up a little more, eventually. The Firefly Festival might be a start...
> 
> A big thanks to those leaving reviews and feedback thus far, and to those favoriting, following, or even just plain reading along quietly. I hope I'm not disappointing you. Feel free to leave feedback, if you'd like! Let's make a date for chapter 7. We'll play it by ear.


	8. Chapter 7: Fireflies

The Friday evening following my date with Kai, I found myself standing at the Harvest Goddess's waterfall, idly tossing a ripe, red tomato in my hand as I debated pestering her. A Friday night in the middle of summer - odds were good she was up in whatever corner of wherever the hell she lived, doing body shots off of an angel or something of that nature.

 _Romance isn't an area I'm allowed to dabble in anymore,_  she reminded me from within my memory. So what the hell would I even be wanting to ask her this time?

Shrugging, I turned to make my way back down, when I froze - Karen was coming up the steps, looking mildly disgruntled, with a towel draped over her shoulder and her hair pinned up.

Our eyes locked, and she nodded nonchalanty, making her way over to the changing station by the hot spring. "Evening," she muttered, leaning against the wall and sighing. Gesturing at herself with her free hand, she continued: "So, let me have it. C'mon, I'm a big girl."

I rolled my eyes and walked over, leaning next to her against the wall. "I'm done being pissed. Didn't ruin the date at all, actually."

She smiled, cocking her head to the side. "Oh?"

"Like I said. But," I warned, ignoring her prompt, "I catch  _any_  of you pulling that shit again, and I will end you like a bad novel. Plus, I'll spoil the ending of Cry of the Carillon," I added as an afterthought.

"The finale hasn't aired yet," she reminded me, looking amused. "You've got nothing."

I shoved my hands into my pockets and smirked at her. "I meant for the novel version."

Silence, followed by a low, disbelieving whistle. "Damn, Ailes. You're ruthless."

"And it's a reeeeally good ending."

Sighing, Karen shook her head. "Yeah, I believe you. But no spoilers needed, alright? I'm... we're sorry." Glancing at me from the corner of her eye, she continued, "You know... you're close friends of ours, so we kinda nose into each others' business."

"Whole damn town," I muttered, cracking a small smile in spite of myself.

"'Specially when they're not exactly used to... well, you know." She made an odd gesture that may or may not have been vulgar. I decided not to try interpreting it.

"I mean," she went on, "Rick and I just started going out and it's all - 'Oh, that's sweet, it took them long enough, yap-yap-yap'. You and Kai? 'Wow, you think you know someone. I wonder if they thought this through?' On the plus side," she added brightly, "we would've nosed in even if you'd started dating a chick, and Rick would've been a douche to  _anyone_  dating Kai because he's just set on disliking him, so don't sweat it too much. But I'll keep my eyes to myself. Don't want your chickens plucking them out as a warning to the others or anything."

"Daisy's really violent," I agreed playfully, giving her a light shove on the shoulder. "Anyway, all's forgiven."

She grinned. "Good to hear. Gonna eat your snack now?"

"Huh?" I looked down at my right hand, suddenly remembering the tomato. "Oh. Right. Uhh... harvest day," I explained. "Kind of making a habit of thanking-"  _That crazy drunk_ "-good ol' H.G. for my bounty when I can."  _When I've lost my mind._ "But this one's actually a little under-ripe, now that I'm looking at it a bit closer... guess I'll have to come back with a better one later."

Peeping at the tomato herself, Karen shrugged. "Looks just fine to me... then again, I'm not the farmer. Well, hey, listen - that hot spring's calling my name, so I'm gonna split here. Take care!"

Waving as she ducked into the changing room, I cast one last, perplexed glance at the waterfall nearby, silently debating the wisdom of even bothering.

_It's barely been a week. Play it by ear._

Shaking my head, I trudged back home, grabbed the salt shaker, and began munching on the tomato.

\------------------------  
  
The following week passed by without much in the way of incident - a few days of heavy rain, and heavy workloads, kept Kai and I mostly confined to our own sides of Mineral Town, save for a chance meeting one drizzly Tuesday afternoon as I left the clinic, skinned knee freshly cleaned and wrapped in gauze. Kai emerged from the library, a small stack of books under his arm and a curious look on his face as he jogged over to me.

"Tripped over my pitchfork and hit Homer's water trough," I explained, giving him a reassuring smile. "Careful with your books; Mary'll kill you."

Nodding and rearranging the books, Kai fell into step beside me, under the coverage of my umbrella. "Get her confession on tape." Nodding back at the clinic, he added, "You and Elli cool now?"

I nodded. "Cool with all three of the little spies now." Cracking a small grin at him - and feeling an uneasy prickling sensation on the back of my neck as we passed the Welvin and Lipschitz households - I glanced down at the books. "So, what kind of disgusting smut has Mary been keeping in the archives right under our noses?"

"Help yourself," Kai offered, as I snatched two books and eyed the covers curiously. AAAAAAAAH! The Hottest Secrets of Sumptuous, Spicy Cuisine by Pierre DuFour, and a crime thriller, .22 Reasons to Die by Iris Albrecht.

"I've been meaning to look into this one," I said absently, handing the cookbook back to Kai and reading the back of Albrecht's novel. "You a fan of hers too?"

"Just got into her last year," Kai affirmed, as we made our way up my porch. He gave me a hopeful smile as I folded the umbrella and shook a bit of excess water off of it. "We could snuggle up and read it together sometime, if you want."

My heart leapt into my throat at the thought, leaving me stammering for a few short seconds as he watched with a slick grin on his face.

"Maybe another warm, cozy, rainy day like today," he wheedled as I handed the book back to him almost absentmindedly. He laughed, shaking his head. "Sorry, sorry. You're just really cute when you're flustered like that."

"I, uhh... I wouldn't mind reading it with you sometime," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. My face burned furiously. After last Wednesday night, it almost seemed innocent by comparison , until the details were factored in - close quarters, bodies pressed together, just the two of us-

Kai's cheerful voice broke through that train of thought rather quickly: "Well, guess I  _will_  save that one for a rainy day."

Swallowing my nerves - just a bit - I nodded. "Backup date in case the festival gets rained out Sunday?"

His eyes lit up. "I like the way you think! And if not then, definitely our next rainy day free. Maybe the library, if it's open?"

I nodded again, grinning. "Deal." Pressing my umbrella into his free hand - reassuring him he could return it next time he saw me - I fumbled for my house key, looking around quickly.  _Ah, hell. People will see it every now and then,_ I thought to myself, throwing my reservations aside and leaning in to give Kai a quick kiss on the lips before I could talk myself out of it.  _You'll live._

With a quick rumpling of my hair, Kai was off, popping my umbrella open and splashing off down the road.

Damn it, I was sure set on making this tough for myself.  
  
\------------------------

During the remainder of the rather peaceful week, I made my business in town quick, giving courteous hellos to the villagers and mumbling about needing to iron my horse as I walked briskly back to the farm with an armful of groceries.

Friday did mark another milestone in my life as a farmer - the acquisition of my first cow, Rogue.

"You mean Rouge?" Barley questioned, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

I shook my head, throwing my arms over Rogue's broad frame and nuzzling her face. She emitted a low moo. "Rogue. She can kill things on contact."

Chuckling dryly, Barley patted her on the head, causing one of her ears to flick lazily. "I see that."

"Are you getting that cow for Kai?" May piped up from behind us, causing me to freeze.

"May, sweetie, don't be so nosy," Barley chided gently, trying to fit a book on bovine care into my rucksack.

"Are you and Kai going to have babies?" the little detective pressed, ignoring her grandpa saying her name in a warning tone. "Stu says when people kiss on the mouth, they make babies happen, and you guys must have a couple babies by now." She wrinkled her nose, not seeming to care about my astonished gape or her grandfather burying his face in his hand and shaking his head, as she muttered to herself: "But how many babies do Mr. and Mrs. Clark have? They kiss all the time!" Her big, black eyes went even wider with shock, and she looked at us. "Maybe Karen eats them!"

"Nobody's having  _or_  eating any babies, dear," Barley cut in quickly, looking at me and shaking his head. "Well, looks like I've got myself quite a talk ahead of me. You need any help getting her home? Give me time to figure out how to explain it to her," he added in a whisper.

"I can hear you, Grandpa. You whisper loud."

Raising my eyebrows, I patted Rogue and began to lead her out of Yodel Ranch. "Good luck, Mr. Yodel."

"Guess I'll need it," he agreed, ushering May inside and shaking his head.  
  
\------------------------

Sunday morning brought a steady rain with it, almost leaving me disappointed that I might miss my first Firefly Festival. Thankfully, around one-thirty, the rain let up, leaving a cloudy, thundering sky behind. Appropriately solemn for Mineral Town's own day of remembrance for the dead.

Although I didn't care much for the scrutiny and awkward conversations that had popped up periodically in the wake of the Fireworks Festival, I found myself resolving to get used to it - nothing I shouldn't have expected, in a town I otherwise liked, working a career I was really starting to love. After all, I'd overheard snatches of chit-chat concerning almost everyone in town from the day I'd returned to town for the funeral - what made me so damn special that I should be exempt?

"It'll die down eventually," Ann reassured me, as she sat down for lunch with me and Cliff. With a devious smile, she picked up her grilled cheese sandwich. "Course, I could always keep it fresh by latching onto Rick's little theory."

I choked on my hamburger, coughing noisily and taking a swig of my soda after Cliff thumped me hard on the back.

"I'll tell everyone you're into farm animals," Cliff countered easily, smirking at her as he wolfed down his curry. Ann simply stuck her tongue out at him.

"Kidding, guys, kidding. No chicken could ever measure up to you, babe," she teased.

"She's very reassuring," Cliff remarked dryly, rolling his eyes at me.

"But a sheep might pose a threat," Ann continued. "They're just so... chill."

"I can be chill!" Cliff protested. "I can chill a sheep into submission!"

Gaze darting between the two, I shook my head. "Well, there go my plans to get a sheep in a month or two." Looking up at the ceiling and sighing, I decided to let it slip: "May as well find some way to occupy my time after Kai leaves."

Ann raised her eyebrows at me as she chugged her apple juice, swallowing hastily. "Oh, yeah. I... guess you two haven't been over that yet, huh?"

I shook my head, using a fry to draw a skull in my puddle of ketchup. "I've kinda mulled over it, but... hard to really find the right way to bring it up to him, and that's before factoring in even getting enough private time to talk about it. Hell, I agonized forever over whether or not this was even worth pursuing since I already  _knew_  he only came in the summer. And I really don't wanna turn this into a fling," I added, dipping the fry into Ann's tomato soup and munching on it.

Cliff shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Well, Ann and I are kind of in the same boat, wi-"

"We're really not," Ann cut in, shaking her head at him. Cliff opened his mouth to respond, before Ann stuffed it with a fistful of salad.

"Fmmrrrfff."

Wiping her hands on her napkin, Ann explained: "You don't have to worry about work. I already talked it over with Duke and Manna, and since they're gonna be exporting to more places now, they'll need an extra hand." She paused to wipe a bit of dressing off of Cliff's chin, his now-empty mouth dropping back open, eyes wide and glimmering. "Preferably a permanent hand. I was gonna tell you after the festival, but... ah, what the hell?"

Feeling my heart lift slightly, I clapped Cliff on the shoulder as he hugged Ann, laughing happily and thanking her profusely. "I think she may be a keeper," I told him, trying to sneak a few of his potato chips onto my plate, and getting my hand swatted away by a red-cheeked, smiling Ann.

"It was nothing," she assured him, looking over her shoulder at me, blue eyes sparkling. "And, hey, if Kai's willing, maybe they'll need a part-time assistant for their busiest season to date... Cliff is only one guy, after all."

My spirits rose further at her words. "Are you sure...?"

Ann shrugged. "I'll have to clear it with them, first, but that buyer they saw offered  _really_  good prices for their wine, from what Kai told me. And Duke can be a bit of a shit about Kai sometimes, but he really likes him. I doubt they'll say no. And hopefully, neither will he."

"Hopefully I'll get some alone time with him to ask tonight," I muttered. "Hey, that festival pretty much takes place on the beach, right?"

Cliff nodded, keeping one arm slung tightly around Ann and squeezing her hand. "Aren't you going to the lake, though?"

"Yeah." I finished my burger, scowling. "Hopefully without half the town tailing us and asking which one of us is pregnant."

"Well, lemme check with Duke and Manna first before you mention any job offer to him, and I'll report back to you tomorrow morning, okay?" Ann said, gathering up our dirty dishes and heading for the kitchen. She winked at me. "Don't steal my man while I'm gone, you pregnant skank."

"I just made myself your bitch, didn't I?" I called after her as she backed through the swinging door, only hearing her call back, "Everyone's my bitch," before the sound of running water started up.

Cliff shrugged, grinning at me. "I, for one, give much respect to Don Callahan for her generosity. Hey," he added quietly, leaning in towards me after looking around the deserted room, "don't let Kai know she said anything, but... from what I've heard from Ann, he's pretty lonely back home. So... I dunno, maybe sticking around a little longer might be on his mind this time. I wouldn't worry about it just yet, is all."

I didn't want to get my hopes up - certainly not over something like a lonely home life - but, nonetheless, I patted Cliff's hand gratefully and nodded, making my way back to the farm to get ready for the festival - and making a quick stop at the library on the way home.  
  
\------------------------

After giving Kai a greeting hug and getting a quick kiss on the cheek in response, we set out up the hillside to Mother's Lake, my umbrella swinging idly from my hand.

"So," Kai piped up, looking at me from the corner of his eye and smiling, "basically, we usually just gather at the beach, make paper lanterns, put a firefly in them, and send them out to sea. Carter says it's because the spirits of the departed visit us on this day, and the lights are to guide them back to the afterlife."

I nodded, wandering over to a rock near the shore of the lake and sitting down. "Sounds really nice. When'd it start?"

He sat down beside me, hands folded between his knees. "Couple years ago. Think the Mayor started it after hearing a friend of Carter's talk about it."

Looking around, my gaze settled on the calm lake shore, listening to the trees around us whisper quietly in the wind. A few yellow flickers of light floated about lazily, more gradually becoming visible as the sky slowly darkened. With the crickets humming, and the owls nearby beginning to wake up and hoot, I felt a warm sense of peace fall over me, even with everything on my mind at the moment.

"Looks like the stars dropped down to visit us," Kai said, squeezing my right hand, and holding his out. A firefly landed on it, crawled along his finger as is light glowed gently, then flew away.

I smiled as a firefly made a brief landing on my shoulder. "Friendly little things, aren't they?"

Kai leaned into me, watching the tableau before us. "Y'know, Carter likes to say... the lights are the souls." Wrapping his arm around my and rubbing my shoulder, he shrugged. "Maybe that was your gramps visiting you just now."

Noting his solemn gaze, I couldn't help but ask: "How about you?"

"Me?"

I shrugged. "You don't have to say, though. Just curious."

"My dad," he responded simply. "Pretty great guy, but... well, he smoked like a chimney." Uttering a small laugh, Kai scuffed the ground with his sneaker. "He actually quit completely when I was nine, but he'd done it for so long, well... by twelve, it was just me and my mom, and she was in no state to work for a long time, so... I kind of barely kept things afloat best I could when I wasn't at school. She only just started back to work a few years ago. And school." He smiled, sniffing and wiping the corner of his eye. "Med school. Don't see much of her these days, either."

Saying nothing, I simply hugged him, feeling my heart sink. He returned the hug gratefully, muttering that he was fine.

"It was thirteen years ago," he said quietly, looking up at the sky. "I mean, I still miss him a lot, but Mom and I are doing alright now. She even wrote to tell me she's started dating again. This guy from her school." He chuckled quietly. "Dunno how the hell she finds the time, but... I'm pretty happy for her."

I followed his gaze, seeing the thick clouds continue rolling by overhead. The fireflies continued blinking and glimmering around the lake and trees. I couldn't find the words to respond - I simply squeezed his hand, feeling his thumb rub my palm.

A stunning flash of lightning and a low rumble of thunder snapped us out of our solemn silence, and I quickly grabbed the umbrella and stood up with Kai. "Walk you to the inn?" I offered, popping the umbrella open as a light sprinkle began to fall.

"Long as you're okay getting back home," he agreed, his words quickly drowned out as the rain strengthened to a downpour, our shoes splashing mud all around us. As we reached my farm, I pulled on his sleeve, leading him to my porch.

Shivering slightly in our damp clothes, we stood there, watching the storm even as the wind whipped rain onto the porch. Another loud crash of thunder shook the house, causing Bob to start barking madly inside.

"We're not getting much farther right now. I can walk you home when this lets up," I said decisively, scraping my shoes on the welcome mat and letting Kai inside as he did the same. Kneeling down and petting Bob, who wagged his tail and licked my face until the rain was all replaced by dog slobber, I padded over to the couch, setting my umbrella on the coffee table and kicking off my shoes. "Make yourself at home."

With a grunt, Kai plopped down next to me, sighing and sagging against me. "This feels familiar."

"Only I'm not puking on you," I reminded him brightly. "It's an upgrade, right?"

"I'll take it," he agreed, eyeing a book that was sitting on one of my end tables. "Albrecht, huh?"

I nodded, reaching over to grab it. "Elli was talking my ear off about it. How far are you?"

"Chapter seven," he said, reaching over and grabbing the book. "Loving it. And you're at... two?"

"Loving it," I echoed, sharing a smile with him. The wind howled and the thunder boomed again, causing Bob to whimper and hop up onto the couch with us. I sighed. "Kai, I... uhh..."

He set the book down, looking concerned. "Umm, if it's about earlier, I, uhh... sorry to get so heavy. I haven't really told that many people, and..."

"No, no, not at all!" I waved my hands. "I didn't mind at all. Not that. It's just-" I gestured at the windows. "Y'know... since it's so late and all, I'm just a little worried." Dropping my hands into my lap, I flumped back against the couch. "I know it sounds kinda hypocritical now, since I've kind of got a bug up my ass over the gossip and attention, but if the storm keeps up like this tonight..."

Picking the book back up, Kai leaned against me so we could both read comfortably. "Hey, it'll be fine. After everything I told you earlier, I'm kinda drained anyway. Just chilling with you and reading is a perfect way to end the night." He looked up at me gratefully. "Thanks for listening to all that... y'know."

"Anytime," I replied warmly, shifting myself slightly and opening the book. "Alright, let's catch up..."

As we read through the book together in comfortable silence, only the storm outside offering any further sound, I found myself nodding off with Kai in my arms. The absurdly engrossing book eventually rested gently against his chest as it rose and fell with his deep, even breathing. Bob was curled up at his feet, snoozing away happily.

Feeling only a slightly twinge of nervousness, I placed my hands over his, letting my eyes slide shut as I joined him in sleep. Any troubling thoughts, any questions, any worries, all were swept away into the black night with the gusting wind. I could worry about them later, when they swept by again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How cozy. So, Jack and Kai's time at the Firefly Festival shed some new light on Kai's situation back home... all without any awkward interruptions or spying from the townsfolk! Maybe. You never know with Mineral Town. Not to mention, Ann's got some news to deliver! And maybe the elephant in the room will finally be addressed...
> 
> Thanks as always to those reading along, commenting, leaving kudos, and so on. Feel free to leave feedback, and we'll meet back up in chapter 8!


	9. Chapter 8: Let's Take Our Time

My eyes shot open, even as I lay still on the couch - my brain had stepped out for coffee, leaving my cognitive senses stalled.

While it fumbled for the keys to get back in, I struggled to take inventory of everything around me: Dull, cloudy light; body reclining on not-my-bed; not-unpleasant weight settled against me, warm and comforting under my arms; shrill, frantic barking; a series of knocks, repeating every few seconds.

_Alright, kid, I'm home. Wakey-wakey. For the love of god, get the door._

"I'll be right there!" I called, raising my voice slightly over Bob's racket.

Beneath me, Kai grumbled and stirred as I shifted on the couch, muttering a bleary "Buzzuh?"

"Sorry," I whispered as he sat up, blinking sleepily at me. Another series of knocks, causing him to scowl at the door in confusion. "I'll get that," I added softly, padding over the door as Kai let out a loud yawn. Steeling myself for the inevitable awkward conversation, I gently nudged Bob back over toward Kai, opening the door to find a drenched Ann bracing herself, with one foot pulled back and her teeth gritted. She froze when she saw me.

We stared at each other for a brief, silent moment. The rain came down a bit harder, and a crow squawked nearby.

I blinked. "You weren't."

"Morning, sleepyhead," Ann responded evasively, putting her foot down and waving. "Bad time?"

"Hi, Aaaaa... Ann," Kai's voice called from the couch in mid-yawn, causing my shoulders to tense up.

"What's up?" Ann responded, waving over my shoulder and looking at me slyly. She waggled her eyebrows and grinned cheekily, causing me to groan and bury my face in my hand.

"Too early for this shit," I mumbled. "We both know you're not here to heckle me about  _that_."

Clasping her hands behind her back, Ann tilted her head. "Nah, just screwing with you. I know better. I just got an answer about yesterday, that's all."

Opening my eyes, I peeked at her expectantly through my fingers.

"They're cool if he's cool," she finished, patting me on the shoulder and giving a sunny smile. "Your turn."

Kai popped up behind me, peeping around the side of the door frame and smiling sleepily, rubbing his eyes in a ridiculously adorable manner. "What brings you here so early?"

 _My turn?_  I mouthed at Ann, nodding towards Kai and crossing my arms. She shrugged, looking at him.

"Didn't think you were totally awake yet. Not a morning person," she stage-whispered at me.

"She's a ginger," Kai stage-whispered back.

"He'll have a better comeback when he's completely awake," said ginger assured me, earning a loud raspberry in response from Kai. She turned her attention back to him. "Anyway, Cliff tell you about the job at the winery?"

Scratching his head for a second, Kai puzzled out the details. "Winery... oh, yeah! Yeah. Couldn't stop talking about it. Pretty cool of you. What's up?"

Beaming, Ann made the pitch: "Doesn't start still late August, but they could probably use another strapping young lad down there to help out, at least till fall's over. How about it, lad? Wanna strap?"

Looking thoughtful, Kai rubbed his chin. "Late August... through fall? I... I dunno. That's-" He suddenly cut off, and I felt the damp air grow thicker and heavier, with two stares boring holes into different spots on my head. "I'll - I'll think it over," he finally stuttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"All I can ask," Ann agreed, nodding. "Just lemme know before too long, okay?"

Though Kai and I were now sharing a sober gaze, he nodded, absently muttering a "Sure".

Making to leave, Ann looked back over her shoulder. "Well, while Kai's still here, you guys can ask the elephant in the room if he'd like to help out, too. Catch ya later, fellas!"

"She's a blunt little hammer, isn't she," I stated dryly, watching her splash off through a puddle on her way back to the inn. Shutting the door, I looked at Kai, who was avoiding my gaze. "Breakfast?" I offered weakly, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

He nodded, still not looking at me, and following me into the kitchen. "Umm, sure. Thanks. You want some help?"

"Let's ask the elephant," I responded wryly, spraying my frying pan. "Scrambled?"

He nodded again, quietly filling the coffee maker and staring at it as the drip began.

He looked so torn, I couldn't help but sigh and stop whisking the eggs, setting the bowl down and going over to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I rubbed it. "I was kind of hoping for a better time to bring it up... like, maybe later."

He glanced at me, a guilty look on his face. "How much later?"

Letting out a deep breath and turning around, I looked up at the ceiling, leaning back against the counter and drumming my fingers on it. "Dunno. Ummm... couple dates later?" I shrugged, in what I hoped was a noncommittal manner. "You?"

"I... I was working on it," he said half-heartedly, returning his gaze to the coffee maker and letting out a small laugh. "I thought I'd quit doing that 'dancing around the subject' crap after the Fireworks Festival."

I smiled wryly at him. "You're not the only one who relapsed."

He took a deep breath. "You know, I really didn't think it over. Long-distance doesn't really seem that fair to me. I... uhh, I'm used to... to dating back at home. "

"More than I'm used to at all," I admitted quietly. "But I don't want to be selfish about this... I mean, I'd already heard that you're only here during summer. And even after I realized that I liked you, I just kept reminding myself over and over - 'Don't get too attached'." Chewing my lower lip, I decided confession time was fully on the table now: "It's why I kept... you know, avoiding you. Clamming up and changing the subject all the time." I decided to leave the more supernatural aspect of my agonizing out of it. Things were already awkward enough.

Kai nodded thoughtfully. "I kind of figured. It's just..." He leaned next to me, adopting the same position, looking up and drumming. "I wanna say that I wanna be absolutely sure first. But I do really like you. A lot." As a warm feeling erupted in my stomach, he continued, "I mean, you're a hell of a guy. Funny, hard-working, cute. Great smile. Down-to-earth."

I wrapped him in a one-armed hug, earning a small smile. "I am a farmer," I cracked lamely, causing him to chuckle and give me a light shove.

"Smartass."

"One of my likeable qualities?" I teased, grinning when he nodded. A bit more seriously, I went on: "Well... you know, you're pretty special, too. Confident, friendly... maybe a bit cocky, but it's kind of sexy."

He smirked. "Sexy as charged."

I shook my head. "So damn humble, too." Unwrapping my arm from around his shoulder, I returned to leaning against the counter beside him, looking into his eyes now. "Look, I know we just started all of this. I mean, I don't want to pressure you at all - that's part of the reason it took me forever to even say anything to you. I'm kind of worried, too."

"I don't normally get this worried about stuff like this," he confessed quietly. "You know? Jack, I  _really_  like you. I don't want to hurt you."

"And I don't want to hurt  _you_ ," I shot back. "So let's not worry about hurting each other for now, okay?" He nodded, and I continued: "Let's... let's just play it by ear. See what happens. And whatever happens... does."

"I can do that," Kai agreed, brightening up a little and shaking my outstretched hand.

"Deal," I said, turning back towards the bowl of eggs. Looking over my shoulder at him, I decided to address another nagging thought: "I know it's considered bad form to talk about it, but... uhh..." At his raised eyebrows, I shrugged. "Y'know... just wondering... your, uhh... previous - err, before me..."

"Oh!" Setting our mugs of coffee down on the table, Kai gulped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm. Well, a couple of girlfriends. A-and... err... two... two guys," he added quickly, making his way to the toaster with a bagel as I grinned and shook my head.

"Sorry," I said, loading up our plates with eggs. "I'm not gonna flip out or anything. Just curious." I decided not to let him know Rick's words from the day after the Fireworks Festival had gotten under my skin a bit.

"I don't mind when it's you," he admitted, taking a plate and drawing me in for another short, yet lingering kiss.

Afterward, we ate breakfast, chatting lightly about the novel we'd thumbed through the other night, as well as the newest resident on the farm. Kai gleefully suggested I name my sheep "Storm" when I got it.

"What if I wanna call it Jean?" I countered.

"Jean can't control the weather!"

I had to cede to his point. She really couldn't.

As we finished breakfast and walked to the door, I pressed my umbrella into Kai's hand. Again.

"I really should buy one of these things," Kai mused, rustling the blue-and-orange fabric as we stepped out onto my porch.

I shook my head, drawing him into a tight hug. "I need your fingerprints on it in case I use it to murder someone."

Kai snorted. "What's that? Can you repeat that into the wire, please?"

"How about I repeat  _this_  into the wire?"

As I leaned in to kiss Kai, I suddenly took notice of something yellow-and-orange, standing at the foot of my porch and looking very uncomfortable. I froze when I realized who it was.

"What's wrong? Is it my breath?" Kai murmured, pulling away and breathing into his hand. He smirked. "Nahh, didn't think so. I - oh, for fuck's sake."

Pulling the hood of his raincoat over his head, Rick cleared his throat and looked away, eyes shut. "Uhh, bad time, I guess..."

Kai shook his head disbelievingly. "Well, the mood's already dead. Go on."

Turning his gaze back to us and glowering, Rick pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Look, Kalani, don't make this any tougher than it already is for me."

"Make  _what_  tougher, exactly?" I asked, folding my arms and tilting my head - more curious than annoyed, truth be told. Rick could be a touch neurotic on a good day, and nosy as anyone else in the town - but he meant well, at least from my understanding.

Hugging his midsection and looking like he was working up his nerve, Rick huffed and looked at the ground. "Kai," he mumbled, "I... need to... apologizetoyouforbeingsuchajerkallthetimeandIhopeyounderstoodthatbecause I will not... repeat... it."

"Jesus," I blurted out, almost wanting to hold up a numbered paddle, while Kai puzzled out the auctioneer-esque string of words.

The realization rammed him like a charging boar. "Did you just-"

"Yeah." Rick nodded brusquely. "Uhh... and Karen didn't make me do it, if that's what you were wondering! Although, it... uhh, well. Well!" He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Darnedest thing, really! We were up in the meadow last night."

Eyes wide and blank, Kai stood stone-still for a second, only blinking. "Y-you heard-"

" _Over_ heard," Rick corrected compulsively, before waving his hands as Kai's hands balled into fists. "By accident! Look, we already made plans up there for the festival like a  _week_  before that! We weren't trying to spy, I swear! Not even Karen, this time! It just..." Calming down, he crossed his arms and regarded Kai with a mixture of sympathy and guilt. "I was a real dirtbag, Kai. I didn't even bother ever wondering what was up with you."

Shaking his head, Kai shrugged. "Hey, I can be kind of a dick to you sometimes, too. And... I'm sorry about that. Plus, I don't like to talk about my dad much, anyhow, so don't worry. Hardly anybody around here knows."

Rick shoved his hands into his raincoat pockets. "Well... still! I guess... I just freaked out when Poppy and Karen became so close with you. Y'know, my dad's off who-knows-where, trying to help my mom, and... I'm worried she won't see him come back. So when Poppy started mooning over you, and my best friend kept defending you... I didn't realize you'd-"

Eyes softening, Kai stepped off the porch, offering Rick his hand and smiling when the redhead shook it and pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"Clean slate?" Kai asked.

"Clean as a whistle," Rick sighed gratefully. Nodding to me, he added, "Sorry I gave  _you_  so much crap about seeing him, too."

"Ahh, I'll live," I assured him, watching happily as Rick and Kai bade each other farewell, waving. "That went a lot better than I thought. I thought he'd be accusing you of ravaging me like a sociopathic fiend."

Chuckling, Kai hopped back up the porch steps to me. "I'm sure Manna and Anna will be asking me about that later."

"Oh, goody," I complained good-naturedly, as he wound his arms around my waist. Doing likewise, my eyes slid halfway shut. "Forget something?"

"You look goofy when you're trying to be sultry," he said simply, before we shared a more silent, enjoyable goodbye. When we pulled apart, he continued, "But even that's pretty hot."

"You wear a purple bandana," I reminded him, ignoring the fact that he hadn't worn his bandana last night - his short black hair was sticking up every which way. "You really can't tell other people they look goofy."

"Color of royalty, handsome! Any plans brewing up there?" he added, stroking my hair.

"Aside from cleaning the house later, nothing yet. Maybe continue reading that book later on?"

He nodded, looking pleased. "Here? Library? My room at the inn? Lakeside?"

"Guess we'll know when it happens," I responded, shrugging. "Spontaneous reading action. You know, like yesterday."

Kai hummed thoughtfully and tapped his chin. "I liked spontaneous reading action the first time around," he decided. "Well, that settles it! Nebulous plans, here we come! Take good care of Storm," he shouted as he jogged off.

I rolled my eyes and headed for the barn. "Not her name," I said to nobody in particular, feeling the corners of my mouth twitch upward, regardless.

\------------------------

The next week or so passed in a humid blur of muggy rain, gleaming sunshine, and overcast, windy days. July found me with fewer days spent watering my fields than I'd anticipated, leaving more free time for mining and social visits - and taking care of my harvests within the limitations of Zack's strict shipping schedule.

"You're alive, right?" Kai's voice called.

It was Saturday evening, on the 21st - the night before Kai's birthday, as Sasha had noted to me earlier in the week during a grocery run.

I was sprawled out on the ground by my barn, enjoying the shade as I stared blankly at the still-bright sky. "Kai, why does the sun set so damn late in summer? It's after six, Kai. Make the sun set."

Sitting down beside me, Kai smiled. "I'm just going to take that as a 'yes'."

"I never  _said_  I was still alive..."

Face brightening even more, he leaned to the side and grabbed a handful of dirt. "Fair enough. I'll bury you."

"I'll bury you with me," I warned, sitting up and groaning. "You don't do massages, do you?"

He grimaced and shook his head. "Not good ones. Tried to do Sasha's shoulders once, and she nearly broke my arm stopping me."

"Wow." Leaning against the barn next to him, I nodded in his direction. "Speaking of Sasha, she let a little detail slip about you earlier this week." At his curious expression, I kissed him on the cheek and clarified: "Happy early birthday."

He slung an arm around my shoulder, squeezing. "Thanks, Jack. Hey, umm..." Clearing his throat, he averted his gaze. "Uhh, I was actually on my way up to the lake. I sometimes take a swim there at night. Clear my mind, think, that kinda thing..."

Feeling my face suddenly grow extremely warm, I gaped at him - eyes darting quickly downward to realize he was, in fact, wearing purple swimming trunks. "S-swim, wi... with-" Awesome. I was squeaking like a cheerleader, and could only stutter more as Kai failed to stifle an amused grin.

"Don't worry; I'm not gonna mope if you don't wanna come," he teased. "Besides, if you can't swim, we can just sit by the lake again and stargaze." Looking up at the sky, he amended, "Well, once we actually  _get_ some stars up there."

"I-I can swim," I protested, my mind simply screaming  _What are you doing, man?!_ over and over again. Still, scrubbing off the sunblock and taking a swim in the lake sounded extremely refreshing right now - especially after a day of toiling in the angry sun that felt like it would swoop down start chasing me around the farm any second. Making a date of it just sweetened the pot, even as my mind wrestled with how to handle the implications.

Regaining control of my mouth as I jumped to my feet, I spat out: "Trunks. I'll, uh, go get them. Be right back!"

"I'll be here," he called after me, as I jogged into my house to get ready.

Moments later, we were making our way up the hillside, with Kai carrying a few of the towels I'd brought, and me carrying the book as a just-in-case.

"So," I started, as the shore of Mother's Lake bobbed into view, "got any birthday plans?"

Kai shrugged. "I usually just chill on the beach with a couple friends, have some beers and toast stuff on a bonfire." Laughing quietly, he added, "We always treat it so spontaneously, even though we've done it for five years now. Invite people at the last minute and all." Shooting me a sideways glance, he cocked his head to the side. "You in?"

"Definitely! Sounds fun," I agreed. "But you're getting your present when we get back to the farm. That includes finding out what it is," I continued, when he raised his eyebrows and grinned.

"Kiss you if you tell me now?" he wheedled, waggling his eyebrows.

I smirked. "Please. Like you weren't gonna kiss me anyway. Especially when you see what I got for you."

Slamming his fist into his palm, Kai let out a sudden cry. "A diamond-encrusted spaceship! With a motion-sensing turret gun!"

I stopped, leaving him to head a few paces ahead of me before realizing I'd fallen behind. "Uhh, something similar," I lied, shaking my head. "I think Ann got you one of those instead. Act surprised."

With a shrug, Kai turned back, continuing towards the lake. "Still excited!" Turning back around, he motioned for me to join him, setting the towels on the grass and slipping his socks and shoes off - along with his shirt.

Gulping, I joined him, setting the book down on one of the towels and stripping myself down to my trunks, as well. I took in Kai's form in the light of the setting sun, feeling a pleasant tingle wash over my body. I was fairly trim, myself, from months of hard farm work - Kai, however, was criminally sleek, toned, and athletic.

Catching his own appreciative, lingering gaze, I felt my face burn as I rubbed the back of my sunburned neck. Intending to ask him if we should get to swimming, I instead blurted out: "Fuck, you're sexy."

My statement was followed by a gust of wind, carrying the chirps of crickets.

Looking like he wanted to bust out laughing, Kai instead settled for just grinning widely at me as I slapped my hand over my eyes, taking my free hand and pulling me toward the water. "I was just thinking the same about you, handsome. C'mon, let's dive in!" he urged, letting go of me and jumping in with a loud splash.

Beaming from the compliment, I instead jogged up to a small outcropping a decent height above the lake, feeling Kai's eyes watch me as he paddled around.

"Really?" was all he had time to ask in disbelief, as I whooped loudly and cannonballed my way in, soaking him with a fairly large wave. Sputtering and wiping the wet hair from his eyes, he shook his head and laughed. "Careful you don't get the book wet. Mary will nail your ass to the wall."

"Our socks are closer," I assured him, lazily backstroking away. "I'm more worried about  _those_  getting wet."

Grimacing in realization, Kai nodded. "Good point." He set off following me, the two of us leisurely swimming a circle around the large lake - and around the small island in the middle, where a small cave sat.

"You know, I heard that place has some pretty awesome minerals in it," I pointed out, nodding to the cave. "Gray told me we can only get to it in winter, though. You'd think they'd build a bridge to it, or something..."

"Nah. You don't wanna build a bridge over this lake," Kai said, following my gaze and smiling mysteriously. "Might anger the water spirit, you know."

Swimming away from him, I squinted curiously. "You're joking, right?"

He grinned once more. "I don't know that it's absolutely  _true,_  but Carter and Basil seem to think there's a kappa living in here."

I balked. If the Harvest Goddess lived in the waterfall, then there was definitely a high chance that a kappa lurked in the depths of our swimming grounds. Fantastic. "You sure we should be swimming in here, then?" I muttered, eyes darting around nervously. "Don't those things suck your life force out through your a-"

Out of nowhere, something squeezed my butt, and I let out a startled scream in mid-sentence, splashing about frantically. " _Damn it,_  Kai!" I sputtered, looking around for him - he was swimming over to me, looking concerned.

"You okay?" Kai asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I scowled and shook my head. "What happened?"

I looked at him quizzically. "So... you  _didn't_  just grab my ass just now?"

He shot me a puzzled look, that soon turned mischievous. "No, but if you want me to..."

Pushing him away gently, I shook my head once more. "I'll keep that in mind, but I think I just wanna get out of this lake right now." I narrowed my eyes at the water. "I, uhhh... I think something's in there."

Laughing like a fool, Kai led me to the shore. "Yeah, maybe we'd better steer clear before he tries grabbing you from the front and mistakes it for a cucumber."

I didn't protest the credit he was giving me in that area. "It was pretty freaky," I insisted, as we reached the shore and clambered out. "I could've died. From... from having my butt grabbed."

Eyes dancing as his laughter died down, he traced a finger down my side, making me shudder happily in spite of the eerie encounter I'd just endured in the lake. "Yeah? We wouldn't want that." His hands passed over my hips, resting just on the waistband of my trunks. "Hmm... but it'd be a hell of a way to go."

I wrapped my arms around his waist, drawing our wet bodies closer together. "It's okay. I think you know how to touch it without killing me," I murmured invitingly, my fingertips grazing dangerously close to the generous curve below the small of his back.

"Wanna show me  _where_  the naughty imp touched you on that cute ass of yours?" Kai teased, hands chancing a bit lower and sliding around to the back. "Here?" He squeezed, and I let out a soft moan. Heart pounding so forcefully that it felt like it would leave a bruise, I shook my head, feeling my breathing become heavier as I slipped a hand down the back of his wet, purple trunks and squeezed.

"More like here," I murmured seductively, eyes sliding shut as our mouths and tongues met. Kai rubbed one hand up and down my back, the other kneading gently on my backside through the blue-and-black fabric. Meanwhile, both of my hands had now found their way under the back of his trunks, rubbing insistently on the bare, damp skin.

My mind was too hazed with lust to be shocked at the boldness of my body, only getting a sharp but pleasant jolt through the haze when I felt a finger poke teasingly against the middle seam of my trunks, rubbing over a particularly sensitive area. I gasped into Kai's mouth and sucked his tongue much to the same response, pushing him down onto one of the towels and pressing against him once more, our bodies sliding over each other in a mixture of beaded lake water and salty perspiration.

I felt our crotches glance against each other, urging me to press more insistently against his swollen bulge and rub it against my own. He groaned and whimpered, pulling my trunks halfway down in the back in his bliss and exposing more of my skin to the balmy air, although it was swiftly covered by his eager, smooth hands.

Despite how good the kisses felt, I wanted to hear him make more wonderful sounds, ringing out clearly into the darkening July sky. Moving my head, I kissed my way down his sweaty neck, not even thinking twice about leaving a small mark in the crook of his shoulder and neck as I inhaled his salty scent. Just like the sea, naturally. Hearing him gasp my name encouragingly, I continued moving downward to his chest. My lips latched onto a hard, brown, water-beaded nipple, running my tongue gently over it, circling it teasingly.

" _Fuck_ , man," Kai breathed loudly, fingers digging into my back slightly. His other hand was buried in my hair, stroking and tugging it lightly. When I slid one hand between his legs to rub him, he whined low in his throat, thrusting back against my palm and murmuring my name again.

Kissing my way down his sweat-streaked abs, I stopped at his waistline, fingers trembling as they rested on his hips. Gulping, I looked up at Kai, who was staring at me with half-lidded eyes and a small smile on his face. He nodded, panting, water trickling down his face from his wet, messy hair.

Gripping his trunks and hooking my fingers into the waistband, I steeled myself-

"C'mon, before someone sees us..."

Stifling a surprised yelp, I fell back onto my ass, while Kai scrambled to his feet, breathing hard and looking around. "Damn it," he whispered, straightening his clothes and throwing his shirt back on. With a small smile, nonetheless, he absently rubbed the spot at the base of his neck where I'd left a small mark.

In a daze, I felt my mind slowly sink back into reality as Kai helped me up, throwing a few towels over his shoulder and grabbing our shoes and socks. He nodded towards a cluster of trees on the far end of the lake, and I nodded back blankly, pulling my trunks back up over my exposed butt and grabbing my shirt and book before following him over, into the shadows.

Muffled laughter reached our ears, and as we watched curiously - Kai looking severely aggravated - Ann and Cliff stumbled up into view, giggling and looking around.

"Up in the meadow," I heard Ann whisper. "Nobody goes up that far after dark... c'mon, before someone sees us."

"Right behind you, babe," Cliff called back quietly, looking around once more before following her.

"Guess we can't continue this here," Kai grumbled darkly, drying his hair off and slipping his socks and shoes back on.

Doing likewise, I nodded, suddenly feeling very conflicted - a good part of me suddenly didn't want to continue this tonight, period.  _Easy way to break this to him... well, good luck, kid,_  my mind decided. Swallowing hard, I shrugged, looking over at Kai. "I-It's fine, really... umm... I..." Looking down at my feet, the words struggled to spill out:

"I... don't think I was... really ready yet," I admitted, feeling like I was lying just a bit. With my brain back to earth, even though I certainly didn't dislike the lust I'd felt, something had seemed wrong. "I kind of got caught up in it..." Balling my fist up, I smacked the tree, shaking my head at my own words. It was more than that, and it was insulting to both of us for me to pretend otherwise. "But it sounds like a load of crap to me, at the same time. I mean... it's not like I didn't want it, at the time. Maybe I'm just... I'm still kind of scared. Really kind of scared."

Looking back up at Kai, I was surprised to see sympathy playing across his face, instead of disappointment. "You're not upset?" I asked, feeling a bit incredulous.

He shrugged. "Hey, I may have a bit of a reputation, but I'm not gonna push you. I've been in your shoes before, man. I don't think it'd be enjoyable for us if both of us weren't really ready, right?"

Slumping against the tree gratefully, I sighed. "Good point. But don't worry, I definitely don't feel like you were trying to pu-" My eyes suddenly caught a particularly glaring sight in one of the last shots of red sunlight, and I couldn't help but stare. "Wow," I stated simply, my reassurance to Kai dying a quick death as amusement and amazement shot it down.

Looking a bit embarrassed, to his credit, Kai laughed weakly, shifting the towel so it obscured the front of his trunks. "Ahhh, that's awkward. Don't worry about that. I've got hands, too, you know."

My face heated up at the mental image, and I turned, making my way back down the hillside, with Kai trailing behind me. "Well," I began, hoping to switch the subject, "what time do you guys usually meet on the beach for your birthday?"

"Umm, around five," Kai answered, picking up a towel that he'd dropped. "Ann usually bakes me a cake, so she'll be a little late, but most of us should be there around five. Hopefully Karen's on time, too," he added darkly.

As we got to my porch, I cocked my head. "What's wrong?"

"Sometimes she tries to help Ann with the cake."

I shuddered, remembering last April's cooking competition. "Maybe Ann can hogtie her and store her under the stairs until the cake's ready."

"I'll run the idea by her," Kai agreed, smirking and stroking my hair. "So... maybe we should call it a night for now..."

I sighed, placing my hand on his arm and rubbing it. "I guess so. Actually, wait a sec!" A thought just struck me, and I motioned to Kai to wait as I hurried indoors to grab something. "Close your eyes," I called, peeking through the crack in the door.

"Are you going to murder me?" Kai responded, causing me to roll my eyes and chuckle wryly. "Hey, you said it first, remember!" he admonished, nonetheless doing as instructed while I made my way down the porch stairs.

"Now hold out your hands."

As he did so, I placed the source of the mystery into his palms: Three ripe pineapples, tied into an unwieldy cluster with a blue ribbon.

"Happy birthday!" I said, as he opened his eyes, looking elated.

"It must've taken you forever to grow these!" he breathed, eyes sparkling. "Damn, Jack. This is awesome!"

Face burning, I shrugged modestly. "I just took down Won to get my hands on the seeds. Karen hinted you might like some when she saw me growing them."

"Wise woman," Kai said, admiringly the prickly, plump fruits. "These are excellent quality! I can make some pretty awesome dishes with them." Looking up at me, his smile widened even more - he looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. "You really are turning out to be as good a farmer as your gramps, you know."

Feeling a bit embarrassed by all the praise, I hugged Kai awkwardly, mindful of the pineapples as he kissed my cheek enthusiastically. "Well, y'know... they're pineapples. I just heard you really liked them, is all."

"My favorite food  _ever,_ " he informed me earnestly. "C'mon, no need to be modest. You did awesomely."

Chuckling weakly, I kissed him back. "Okay. Fuck modesty, I was awesome."

He gave me a thumbs-up. "Nailed it! Hey, I'll see you tomorrow night, then. Take care, okay?"

"You too," I called, waving, and watching until he turned down Taro Way, disappearing past Chicken Lil's. I made my way inside. My heart had returned to bouncing off of my ribcage like a charging bull. Shaking my head and grabbing a beer from the fridge, I sat down at the kitchen table, resting my head on one hand and drinking with the other one.

I wasn't sure whether or not I should feel grateful to Cliff and Ann for effectively cock-blocking both of us - not that they'd need to know, necessarily. It wasn't like I wasn't grumpy enough about the attention Kai and I got, as it was - even through accidental eavesdropping.

I turned the scene over and over in my head, ignoring the effects it was having on my body even as I enjoyed the imprinted memories of the sights, sounds, smells, touches, and tastes. If they hadn't come by... would I really have gone through with it? My virginity had been effectively hanging by a very frayed thread by that point, and the thought of losing it to someone who might be on his way home in a few more weeks...

Yet, maybe it was the alcohol or the wishful thinking talking, but something deep down inside told me that my worries were for nothing. I wasn't sure I could see Kai leaving after all of this. Maybe I just didn't want to see it.

 _I just can't be ready until I'm sure,_ I concluded, slumping down in my chair and tipping the empty bottle over.  _And until he's sure, I can't be sure. So... we'll see. So, how do I bring this up without feeling like I'm pressing him...?_

The answer was simple: I couldn't. I was sure a way existed, but  _I_ sure as hell didn't have that level of conversational proficiency.

Of course, I did know someone who could, perhaps, grant it... couldn't she?

 _Fuck._  This was going to call for another beer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Jack wants to hit that, but he wants to hit a non-transient that. Now he just needs the proper words to relay to the that in question. Let's see what intoxicated words of wisdom the local deity can relay to him. Or maybe she can just make him smooth as a silk baby's butt for the day.
> 
> As you can see, things are starting to get a lot heavier in the petting department. To be blunt, this story is gonna be moving into M or E territory soon (we'll see when I get there), so consider this the heads-up on the future ratings-change. I meant to put it there from the start, but... y'know, whoops. Whoops!
> 
> Anyway, thanks as always to those reading along. Hopefully you're enjoying things. Big ups to my friend Alyssa for the fun brainstorming sessions and encouragement to be victoly. I'll see you all in chapter 9!


	10. Chapter 9: I Choose You

"Oh ho ho! Ohhh ho ho ho ho ohhhh ho ho  _hoooo!_ "

I eyed the Harvest Goddess warily, arms uncomfortably crossed. It was the Sunday morning of Kai's birthday, and I'd stuck perhaps unwisely to my resolution to get some help and advice from her. She had a sly look on her face, and couldn't stop laughing like an anime noblewoman. I let out my breath in a huff. "You're seriously creeping me out. More than you usually creep me out."

"Well, I just haven't seen the little lover-boy in a little while," she said, holding a hand delicately over her mouth as she laughed. It was bizarrely elegant for her. "Well, you could say I  _have_  seen you... quite a lot of you!"

Eyes widening, I felt my stomach lurch. The idea was somehow even worse than the thought of the villagers seeing. "Please tell me you weren't watching  _that_."

"Not intentionally, no," she responded breezily. "But you boys put on one hell of a show. See, my boss told me Stanley was up to no good in the lake, so I just... kept an eye on things to make sure he didn't kill anyone else."

"A... anyone else," I said flatly. A muscle twitched near my eye.

She nodded. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't say anything about his name. But, hey, you widdle sex maniac, we're not here to discuss that, are we?"

At this point, I wasn't quite sure anymore  _what_  we should be discussing. "Not a sex maniac," I groused.

She shot me a catlike smirk. " _I know._  But we both know you're here about  _your man_ , right?" Winking and tapping the side of her nose, she nodded before I could answer. "Man, I set your clock an hour ahead just one time, and I start up a whirlwind romance! J-just by proxy, that is," she amended quickly, eyes darting around - left, right, up down, in a sudden bout of paranoia. She giggled nervously. "I might party a bit too hard, but I'm not gonna violate my probation or anything."

"Wait, wait, wait," I cut in, holding a hand up. "So you're the reason I had that... err, bonding time with Kai that one afternoon?"

She sighed, crossing her arms under her breasts and slumping a bit. "Yeah, so I am. I didn't make either of you fall in love, though," she answered, before I could even ask. "And that's not just me. We deities really can't force people to  _do_  things. Sure, I can bless your farmland for a limited period, make stuff grow faster. We can tinker with probability and mechanics, send a cool breeze through your room on a hot night-"  _Could've used that back in May,_ I thought absently, "-but we don't touch the human will. Messy stuff."

"Uh-huh," I muttered skeptically, feeling small tendrils of doubt start to creep around my stomach and squeeze. "You're sure about that?"

" _Yes_ ," she stressed, tossing her braid over her shoulder. "You know, there was just a little something there I picked up on, so... I muddled circumstance a bit to make the outcome a little more favorable for you two.  _Jackpot,_ " she added quietly, grinning.

I couldn't help but nod dumbly. In a twisted way, her little trick may have been the catalyst for this relationship even happening in the first place. The first domino to be tipped over. In a way, I was... grateful? Damn it, I really was.  _Huh. I'll be damned. She's not so bad after all._

Seeing me relax, she went on: "Good. Now, let's get down to business. So, I should've probably said something a while back, we have a maximum of three on favors. We actually swiped the idea from the genies. Nasty court battle, but it stuck. You've still got two stored up from your offerings. So, what's it gonna be? You can come back for the third later, but you came here for  _something,_ so let's get that second one out of the way."

I stared up at her blankly, taking her explanation in. "Wow."

"Wow," she echoed dryly, buffing her nails on her top. "Anytime you're ready, buddy."

Thinking it over, I hummed and tapped my foot. "I'm at a loss," I admitted, scowling and kicking at the dirt. "I wanted to ask for help to explain my feelings to him, but..."

"He's not dumb," she finished for me. "Neither are you. But," she went on thoughtfully, "you  _are_  pretty naive."

"Love you, too," I spat, rolling my eyes.

The Harvest Goddess scoffed. "I dunno, I'm not totally omniscient, but maybe I pick up on stuff you guys wouldn't think twice about. Call it a gift. You really think he's gonna leave that easily?"

"He's got a life outside of this town," I informed her, counting off on my fingers. "Family he barely sees as it is, probably friends and a job... he spends most of his year there."

"Yeah, " she mused, "kind of like  _you_  before  _you moved here_. Oh, wait!" Her mouth formed an 'O' of mock surprise, pressing her hand over it. "You still have your family and friends back in the city, too! Weirdo! It's like people can adapt or something, isn't it? Especially when they have something important spurring the change."

Going quiet, I ignored her sarcasm as her words hit me. "But I want it to be his choice."

She shrugged. "Who said it won't be? If you could leave the farm and go back to the city of Wherever-burg with him, you'd do it of your own volition, right?"

"Right," I agreed, and she nodded keenly.

"Right! But, honestly, in my  _professional_  opinion, you're really worrying over nothing. I know, you wanted the courage to be honest with him. That's why you're here. Here's your courage, pal: Just pay attention." Frowning, the Harvest Goddess poked me on the forehead, knocking me flat onto my butt. "Use your  _brain._ From my observations, Kai doesn't seem like the hardest book to read. I could probably kick his ass at Blind Man's Bluff while I was sauced to the gills. You knew he liked you; didn't make  _that_  much of a secret."

Swallowing, I looked away. "Maybe I need to hear it from him. Maybe if I just keep being straightforward with him... without pushing him..."

She nodded. "Don't make it sound like you're navigating a minefield. He cares about you. He knows you care about him. I really can't promise the outcome, but why the hell should  _that_  need a guarantee?Just state everything in no uncertain terms, and you'll do fine.  _Voila._  That will be five cents, please."

Running a hand through my hair, I looked up at her in disbelief. "I just wasted my second favor on getting the obvious stated, didn't I." I didn't need to make it a question.

"No backsies," she confirmed. "Let's not do the same with that last favor. I'm not feeling generous enough to pick for you again."

I nodded, humming low in my throat. "I'm just gonna empty my account right now. Nothing in the vein of people, though."

"Not even privacy?" she teased, cocking her head to the side, letting her braid hang down.

"Oh, yeah... nah," I muttered, shaking my head. "Honestly, in some twisted way, the shameless eavesdropping, spying, and gossip make me feel like I really belong here. Isn't that horrible? I think they call it Stockholm Syndrome."

"You're gonna want to consult a dictionary on that definition," she advised me, before crossing her arms once more. "So, I take it we're talking shop now, eh? Okay, kiddo. Don't be brash."

Mulling it over, I ran the options through my head, thumb sawing back and forth across my chin. If I took good enough care of my animals, their health shouldn't be a concern. I'd gotten a good handle on the actual farming aspect - I was comfortable enough with my own skill to be  _un_ comfortable asking for any sort of enhancements.

Giving up, I simply settled on what felt like the most trivial thing I could think of: "How the hell do I get the kappa to back off? I really liked swimming in the lake."

"Cucumber, carve your name on, toss it in the lake, bam. The supermarket sells those year-round," she responded in a bored tone. "Sorry, that'd just be a waste of a favor, if you ask me. You want some gold lumber? Just one piece, but it's reaaaaally shiny."

I pulled a face. "Little ostentatious, don't you think?" She waggled her hand slightly in response, muttering "Ehhh," and I returned to rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "Ooh, I've got it!" Snapping my fingers, I looked up at her. "Fall's coming up, and it'll probably be busier than ever... how long can you suppress the weeds from popping up on my farm?"

The Harvest Goddess smiled. "September?"

"Half a year?"

"Till winter?"

"Done," I agreed, shaking her hand. With a sigh, I stepped away. "Well... thanks for everything, then. You still frighten me."

"And that's awesome," she responded proudly. Then she giggled. "But I grew on you, just a little!"

I waggled my hand slightly in response, letting out an "Ehh," although my slight smile betrayed my fondness. "You'll still accept offerings, right?"

She began to fade into the ripples of the waterfall. "I love my freebies."

A bright flash, and she was gone - one of the more bizarre, yet ultimately welcomed and unforgettable memories I would have of my first year in Mineral Town. I might have even called it a friendship, during my less rational periods.  
  
\------------------------

Later that day, as five o'clock drew nearer, I found myself laying on my bed, staring up blankly at the ceiling fan.

"Whoosh," I said, watching it whoosh around.

I'd cleaned my house, tended to the crops and animals, and finished the novel. The latter item now rested on my chest, rising and falling evenly as I mulled over if and how to approach things tonight. A mental inventory and a re-run of the morning's conversation had forced me to confront a unsurprising but nonetheless jarring revelation:

I didn't  _just_  like Kai a lot. Even in yesterday's haze of lust, it was there. It had been faint and blurry, like a vague snatch of song, until the Harvest Goddess pointed it out: I was flat-out in love with him.

 _Well, of course,_ I reasoned, still feeling my stomach flutter. I would've been more surprised if I  _weren't_  in love with him. Did it really need saying, to him?

It did.

Would tonight be the right time for that? Especially in light of yesterday's events?

 _Why not?_   _Because you think he won't feel that way about you? That's stupid._

It was.

_Because you think it'll make things awkward? Only if you blurt it out in front of everyone like an attention whore._

I wouldn't.

_Because you think even after you tell him, he'll still leave? If you still honestly think that... tell him anyway._

I nodded, letting out a deep breath. I would.

A loud knock sounded on my door, and I rolled out of bed, grunting. I'd already showered and dressed for the beach gathering, snatching a six-pack out of the fridge and gently nudging Bob away from yapping and scratching at the door.

"Hi, Bob!" Popuri called, giggling as he zoomed out regardless of my protests, and started jumping up, paws scrabbling frantically at her skirt.

"Don't shred the girl's clothes," I sighed, grunting and picking Bob up. He squirmed and grunted back, looking at me in confusion and snorting, his docked tail wagging absurdly fast. His tongue flopped out of his mouth sideways.

Rick smiled, scratching him on the stomach and nodding at me. "You ready?"

I held up the beer and grinned, shifting Bob's weight with my other arm. "Let me just return the man of the house to his couch."

The three of us made small talk as we ambled down Taro Way to the beach, Rick seeming the most relaxed I'd seen him since moving here. Popuri hummed cheerfully, grabbing each of us by the hand and pulling us along insistently.

"Poppy, relax!" Rick said, stumbling over the cobblestones. "The beach isn't going anywhere!"

"But I wanna party!" she whined, skipping down the steps. "You know I always get antsy!"

"I'll trade you her for your dog," Rick whispered loudly to me.

"I heard that,  _Richard_!"

"I'd feel weird scratching your sister on the stomach and bathing her," I added, grinning as Rick gave me a playful punch in the arm. "I wasn't the one who made the offer!"

"I knew you redheads were violent maniacs," Elli called from over by a crackling bonfire, waving us toward her. Cliff, Kai, Gray, and - to my surprise - Doctor Trent were gathered there as well. I saw Trent's fingers intertwined with Elli's, and crossed my arms with an amused hum. Catching Kai's eyes, my smile broadened to match his, and I nodded towards the clinic couple.

"What is it, Lassie?" Elli questioned, catching my gesture and mimicking it with a cheeky grin. "Did Stu fall down a well?"

"Sure." I plopped down on the sand next to Kai, feeling him squeeze my hand. My face warmed a bit - I wasn't used to the public gestures of affection.

Seven pairs of curious eyes locked onto us, and I waved. "Uhhh, hi, people. Umm..." I looked around, trying to change the subject, feeling Kai gently remove his hand from over top of mine. "So, I know Ann's doing the cake-"

"-And Karen hopefully isn't," Elli cut in playfully, earning a wary nod from Rick.

"Yeah, where is she? And Mary?"

"Karen's wrapping the gifts," Rick piped up, pushing his glasses up on his nose, nodding over at Kai.

"Mary wouldn't tell me what she was up to," Gray added, checking his watch. "But I'm about to find out... she asked me to help her out about a quarter after. I'll be back, guys." With a brusque nod, he got up, put his hat back on, and made his way up to the Welvin household.

We watched curiously, before the conversation turned to trying to figure out Mary's mystery plan.

"What if she's bringing Chinese acrobats?" Popuri pondered, twirling her curly ponytail around her pinky.

"I was wondering who trampled all over my hydrangeas," Elli cracked, patting Popuri on the arm. "Maybe she's putting together a little recital or something."

Trent frowned thoughtfully, nodding at the suggestion. "Well, if she needs Gray's help, maybe she's bringing her cello with her. It's pretty heavy, especially if she's carrying a music stand, too."

"Maybe she got him a puppy!" Cliff contributed brightly.

"It's my diamond-encrusted spaceship!" Kai decided, rubbing his palms together gleefully. Eyes darting around at the skeptical stares leveled on him, he threw his hands up in protest. "I'm getting that thing someday, people! Accept it!"

Glancing at him from the corners of my eyes, I raised my brows. "So this is an ongoing thing?"

"Every  _year_ ," Elli sighed. "Why do you even need an  _anything_ with a turret gun?"

Kai shrugged. "It'd look cool."

Smiling at Elli and deciding to team up against Kai, I chipped in: "And it'd need to be  _motion-sensing_ , because...?"

He put up his hands defensively. "I'm really complicated."

"Try me."

Humming thoughtfully, Kai closed his eyes for a few seconds, hands resting on his crossed legs, before looking over at Cliff. "Help me out, roomie."

The roomie in question made a zipping motion over his mouth and shrugged helplessly.

"I'm being hung out to dry! This birthday suuuucks," Kai mock-whined, smiling nonetheless.

"Just as planned," Elli quipped, reaching over and pushing his bandana down over his eyes. "We have Welvin sign at twelve o'clock."

"But it's almost five forty-five," Popuri muttered, looking concerned. Whipping her head around to the stairs, she gasped in realization - Mary and Gray had arrived, carrying an assortment of covered dishes and bowls that smelled insanely wonderful.

Scrambling up, Kai rushed over to help them, picking up a particularly large pot that Gray held; there was an assortment of covered plates stacked on top of it. "You cooked me dinner?!" he said happily, ushering everyone into the diner.

"Mom helped," Mary said, letting him give her a gentle, one-armed hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Cake attack!" Ann's voice called from the foot of the stairs, waddling over to join us. With a massive pineapple upside-down cake in her hands, and a few neatly-wrapped packages stacked on her forearms, she moved awkwardly. "Anyone wanna help me out here?"

Cliff and Trent took the packages, setting them on one of the tables, while Karen came in shortly afterward with the rest of the presents, and another six-pack dangling from her fingers. A large camera was strapped around her neck.

"Let's do this!" she yelled excitedly, joining us at the table as Mary uncovered a few of the dishes - fried rice, tempura, garden salad, bouillabaisse, fried okra, a few loaves of French bread, and chicken curry. Kai's eyes went wide, and I couldn't help but think his stomach had made a demonic roaring noise in preparation. Elli looked around in confusion before shrugging it off, while the rest of us loaded up our plates.

Dinner was underway - Trent, Mary, Popuri, and Elli opting for tea instead of beer - and excited chatter flew about between everyone there. Even Gray was chatting animatedly with Elli, Mary, Popuri, and Kai about the novels Mary had introduced him to. Karen, Ann, and Rick swapped anecdotes with Cliff and Trent, neither of whom had been in town much longer than I had.

I found myself getting caught up in farm chatter with Rick shortly after that, occasionally stealing glances at Kai, and catching a few in return. He looked far happier than I could remember seeing him recently, even the night of the Fireworks Festival. His eyes were shining, and I felt him take my hand and stroke my palm under the table. Face warming, I squeezed his hand and let myself be swept up in a conversation about the vineyard with Cliff and Ann. Even Kai and Rick started chatting with each other, mostly about music.

After a dinner too good to be anything other than a beautiful, tasty dream, Ann and Cliff brought the cake over. Twenty-five candles flickered on it as we sang "Happy Birthday". Most of us, anyway, as Elli and I loudly sang the birthday song from  _Futurama_  instead, much to the amusement of the others.

Presents came next, mostly novels and new clothes. Ironically, Karen bought him a new set of stainless steel cooking utensils, while Popuri wound up getting him a cologne with an intriguing scent. Feeling my skin grow a bit hot, I couldn't help but have a few fleeting, steamy thoughts about him wearing it.

_Down, boy. You're not at an orgy._

"Pictures!" Karen called, voice slurring slightly as she waved her camera around. "Kano's only letting me have this... lil' bastard tonight! Let's do this!"

A group picture with the timer set, a few good-natured, goofy snapshots... I found myself grinning broadly at the lens with Kai, our arms slung around each others' shoulders. Snickering, I made bunny ears behind his head - he caught on and poked me between the ribs, causing me to look like a goon with my mouth wide open in laughter in the photograph.

Following that was a shot of my startled, blushing face, when he kissed me on the cheek without warning. I responded by pulling his bandana completely over his face for yet another picture, pointing at the purple outline of his open mouth with a cheesy, open-mouthed grin.

The party was as relaxed and fun as any I'd ever been to before - no awkward conversations yet, to my surprise. Only a few curious stares, with Elli and Trent attracting a few of their own. I sighed happily, not wanting the night to end.

"I'll be back," Kai called, making his way to the door. "Just gonna check on something really quick, guys." I saw him catch my eye, motioning for me to follow him out.

"More cake for me!" Karen called loudly, rifling through the novels she'd gotten Kai.

Joining Kai outside, I followed him to the end of the pier, where he sat down, long legs dangling over the water.

"What's up?" I asked, taking a spot next to him. He rested his hand on top of mine again, and rubbed my knuckles.

"Having one hell of a birthday," he said, letting out a happy sigh. "I mean, they're usually a blast, here. Just... moreso than usual, now."

I nodded, feeling my heart swell. "Yeah, I noticed how thrilled you looked in there. You and Rick were even talking!"

"Didn't think that was possible," he mused, looking up at the night sky. The sun wasn't completely down yet, but a few stars had begun to peek out around the golden-blue clouds. He closed his eyes blissfully, letting the sea breeze brush his skin. "I've been coming here a while, you know. But I feel like I really...  _fit in_  right now. I really feel..." He watched the water thoughtfully. "I feel at home."

I nodded, my heart thumping. I couldn't find the words to cut in. I wanted to say it, myself. But I simply stayed quiet, letting him go on:

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad..."

He was looking at me now, a mixture of hesitance and expectation playing across his features. I gulped, looking away - this was hard. Why was this so hard?

"Y-you... you're thinking about it, then?" I asked, staring out over the quiet ocean, listening to the hush of the waves and the squawks of the gulls. I barely caught a glimpse of him nodding, and looked back at him. I could do this.

"Something wrong?" Kai asked, looking concerned.

Pulling my hand away and wringing my fingers, I shook my head. "N-no... just... just s-some... things... it's hard to say," I finished lamely, looking down at my lap.

He scooted closer, looking at me curiously.

 _Damn it, that's cute._ Taking another deep breath, I decided I would have to do this looking him right in the eyes. "I just... I just wanted you to kn-know... stop stuttering," I snapped quietly at myself, earning a small smile from him, but pushing myself to continue nonetheless: "Kai - whatever you decide to do, I just want you to know that I, uhh... well, I love you," I finished, feeling my muscles relax as my admission finally made it out into the warm night.

He stared at me in stunned silence for a few seconds, eyes going a bit shiny. "I don't know why I'm shocked," Kai confessed, laughing awkwardly and wiping his eyes on his arm. "Well... not shocked," he corrected, shrugging. "Just, really... really happy to actually hear it."

There went my heartbeat again, into overdrive.

"I love you, too, Jack. Thank you."

The words brushed warmly against my ears, making me tingle. Fireworks were erupting in my stomach, and my lips wobbled when I smiled at him. Something wet trickled down my cheek, but I ignored it as we embraced.

"And... I want to stay here," he murmured into my shoulder, sniffling and rubbing my back. "I wanna be here with you."

"I'd like that," I croaked happily. "Fuck, I sound like a frog."

We pulled apart, and he chuckled as we stood up, wiping his eyes some more. "Well, wanna head back inside, Kermit?"

I offered my arm, and he linked his in. "Lead the way, Miss Piggy."

"Walked right into that one," he mused as we made our way back.

We noticed the silhouettes, previously crowded at the windows, dispersing frantically as we headed back inside. They attempted to act natural, with mixed results - a few of them still flicked their eyes over to us frequently, while Kai gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and excused himself to speak with Ann and Cliff.

"Whatever that was about, it musta been goooooood," Karen noted, sipping yet another can of beer. At my questioning look, she smirked, settling a bleary gaze on me. "Yer grin-in-nin' like... an iiiidiiiiooooot."

"Gooootchaaaa," I returned, smiling and patting her on the shoulder as Rick sighed and steered her over to an empty table to sit down. Kai stood up from his little huddle in the center of the room, beaming.

Hey, people! I've got an announcement to make!" he called, raising his voice slightly over the rabble that was hushing to a curious murmur as all eyes turned to him.

"You're preggers!" Karen called, pumping a fist into the air and cheering. I noticed Trent grimace and smack his forehead, with Elli chuckling wryly.

Kai took it in stride, shrugging. "Okay, sure, that too. Anyway, first, I wanted to thank you guys for giving me one hell of a birthday party. Best birthday I've had in a  _long_  time!" He led a quick round of applause for everyone in the diner, before continuing: "And I hope I'll be able to make it up to  _all_  of you throughout the rest of the year. Because I'm gonna be sticking around to try, that's for sure!"

"You're moving here?" Mary called, her eyes lighting up when he nodded. Popuri whirled around, looking confused.

"Duh, Mary! Didn't you hear him tell Ja-"

"You're so imaginative, Poppy!" Elli interrupted, emitting a high-pitched, nervous giggle as she clamped a hand over the girl's mouth. "We didn't  _eavesdrop_ , that'd be... rude!"

Kai grinned at them, shaking his head, before continuing. "End of next month, I'm gonna help Cliff out at the winery!" He gestured to Cliff, who received his own cheers and applause with a pink, pleased face. "Well, and keep running this place during the off-season, too. And maybe help out elsewhere," he added, shooting me a meaningful smile that half the room caught. I nodded silently. Something warm blossomed in my chest, and we quietly toasted each other with our beers.

After the cheers died down, the party went on with Kai clicking on the radio he kept under the counter for slow days - lively music thumped through the small diner, tables moved to the sides to make a clearing. Karen snoozed through the remainder of the festivities at her table as everyone else danced.

Kai was nearly as terrible a dancer as I was, and we shared a fair amount of winces and hissed apologies as we trod on each others' feet in our shared lack of rhythm - nonetheless, smiling like fools the rest of the time.

When the party was over and everyone still conscious had helped clean up, taking home their share of leftovers (and Karen being carried back to the supermarket, slumped over Rick's shoulder like a sack of potatoes), I stayed behind with Kai.

He smiled over his shoulder at me as he gathered up his gifts. "Hey, handsome. What's up?"

I shrugged, leaning over the table next to him. "Oh, you know. Just... taking it all in."

Nodding, he folded the shirts and pants he'd received and slung them over his shoulder, scooping up the books. "Guess I can leave the cooking stuff here for tomorrow," he murmured thoughtfully, turning to leave. His eyes went soft as he looked at me with an amusingly dreamy sigh. "You know, Jack, this really was one of the best days of my life."

His words melted under a long, deep kiss, before we pulled away once more.

"Thank you," he finished, clicking off the lights in the diner as we headed out onto the dark, silent beach.

Another thought suddenly came to me, and I stared at the sand, feeling my heart start drumming madly again as I jammed my hands into my pockets. "Of course. Umm... Kai?"

He stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking back at me. "Yo?"

Gathering up my nerves, I looked over at him. "Do you wanna... come over to my place again, Thursday night, for dinner? Maybe watch a movie or read or something? No dancing," I promised, with a small smile. that he returned. When he nodded, I let out a  _whoosh_  of air. "Alright. Around seven, then?"

"Wouldn't miss it. You okay?" he added, eyes narrowing worriedly.

I nodded, brushing it off and joining him. "Yeah. Yeah. It's just... you know, tonight. I'm still getting used to it all," I half-lied, giving him one last kiss for the night before he headed off to the inn. "Goodnight. Love you, Kai."

"I'll never get tired of hearing you say that," he muttered blissfully. "Love you, Jack. 'Night." I smiled as I watched him strut back to the inn, humming happily to himself.

The reason I'd given for my awkwardness wasn't entirely untrue - being in love with someone  _was_  still new to me. Saying it, hearing it returned, hearing words I'd been hoping to hear for a while spoken aloud, all of those things at once had nearly pushed my brain into overdrive.

I found my mind suddenly flashing back to the previous night: The wonderful feelings of our nearly-bare bodies pressed together, touching wherever we wanted, urging each other further without needing to say much at all. Further back to our first date at my house, ignoring the movie as we caressed each other, moments away from stripping down. My brief fantasies at the party, of inhaling the scent of Kai's new cologne as I kissed down his tan throat...

The eagerness, before the fear of being left alone got the drop on me.

Now, that didn't have to stop me. I might still be nervous, but I trusted him.

I was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chika-wow, chika-wow-wow! Wait, that's Dessie's bit. Never mind.
> 
> So, the "L" word was finally busted out into the open (yep, they're lesbians), and now Kai's all set to become a permanent fixture of Mineral Town! For Jack! Good thing Rick got over his animosity when he did, eh?
> 
> Next chapter bumps this story right up to an M rating, which probably goes without saying after how this chapter ended. Speaking of ending, after the next chapter, there'll just be an epilogue to wrap things up, and... voila. The re-write will be finished! Feel free to leave feedback, comments, whatever. Thanks to everyone reading along so far - I hope you're enjoying it! I'll see you in chapter 10!


	11. Chapter 10: Making Love

In the few days between Kai's birthday and the following Thursday, my mind bounced around restlessly in anticipation of our next date. I found myself suddenly snapping out of a wonderful fantasy on Monday morning, the summer sun blazing down on me as I looked at the ground to find I'd been watering my shoes for a good minute or two, instead of my onions.

By Tuesday afternoon, I was pacing back and forth in my house, mind a jumbled flurry of thoughts that may have visually resembled a Jackson Pollock painting.  _What should I make for dinner? What should we watch? Or read? Maybe I shouldn't go through with this. I might be terrible at it. He's definitely done it. With a guy? I can't just ask him. What if he has? So what? Maybe he won't compare us. Who's gonna be on top? You're about to pace right into your front door._

I looked up a second too late as the thought registered. "OW!" Wincing, I rubbed my aching nose.

Once Wednesday evening rolled around, I was juggling even more thoughts around, my mind about to buckle under the stress of it all.

_Maybe I should call it off. Should I light candles? That's pretty sexy. I don't even have any candles. I hope he doesn't mind. What should I wear? Should I wear that cologne again? God, I hope he wears his. Maybe some soft music. Does the stereo even work?_

With one  _click_ , my house was suddenly filled with the deafening, frantic strains of a stormy violin, sending Bob darting out of the room with a startled yelp. Somehow, I'd tuned right into the third movement of Vivaldi's "Summer" at max volume. Flinching, I quickly clicked it off, waiting for my ears to stop ringing. There was no damn way I was making love to that. Especially not my first time.  _Maybe if I dig up some Sade... wait, what if it's got that sad song about the African woman? Fuck. That song makes me cry._

Slowing down my pacing, I took several deep breaths, trying to build up a sense of inner peace. Zen. Breathe in, breathe out.

_I don't even have any lube._

"God  _damn_  it!" I snapped at nothing, sucking in a deep breath and marching down to the supermarket before my gathered-up nerves could scatter. With a faint sense of relief, I noticed that Jeff was the only one in the front - I could smell Sasha's cooking from the back, and hear her exasperated voice faintly scolding Karen.

Jeff turned slightly pink as he bagged up my purchases - try as I had to innocuously hide the damning item among a bag of Cheetos, shaving cream, and a two-liter of root beer - but said nothing as he handed my bags to me, nodding a faint farewell.

 _Bless you, you discreet, tiny man_ , I thought gratefully, munching on my cheese puffs at my kitchen table a short while later as I mulled over my plans for tomorrow night. I took great pains to talk myself back down to rational, evenly-paced thoughts in spite of the sugar and caffeine in the soda giving me slight jitters.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

_We'll meditate. Fuck yeah._

"Stupid brain."

* * *

Thursday finally arrived, flying by almost unfairly fast as I underwent a brief mental struggle in coming to peace with my plans for the night. The kitchen was fairly warm, as it filled with the scent of baked fish and boiled potatoes, but I wasn't quite sure if the heat was causing as much of my sweating as it seemed.

The house was spotless, Bob was at Barley's for the evening - latching on to a suggestion by May that he come over to play with their dog, Hana, sometime - and even my bed was neatly made, my heart pounding as I fluffed the pillows. Would we even make it in here? For all I knew, we could wind up on the dining room table. Or the ceiling.

 _Just let whatever happens... happen. It hasn't worked out too badly so far,_ I reminded myself. Even so, as I dabbed a bit of cologne along the side of my neck after my shower and slipped on a polo shirt and jeans, I still felt a slight tremor. The doorbell rang right after I checked my teeth in the bathroom mirror.

Try as I might to act naturally, I still couldn't help but feel how awkward my smile was as I greeted Kai, quickly hiding it with a brief hug.  _Stop looking like you just got back from the dentist. He'll think you're going to poison him. Aww yeah, he wore the cologne._

"I feel like I should call you by some sort of nickname now," I mumbled awkwardly into his shoulder, feeling him laugh and rub my back.

Smiling mischievously as we pulled apart, he made the suggestion: "Bae?"

I gawked at him for a few deafeningly quiet seconds, before shaking my head and waving my hands. "... _Hell_  no. Forget I even broached the subject." Looking over my shoulder at him as we made our way to the table, I added, "But you can keep calling me 'handsome'!"

Kai stopped, rubbing his chin thoughtfully and looking upward. "Hmm. Nah, I was thinking... 'bae'."

Sighing, I playfully shook my head in defeat. "Okay, that's cool. I just need to go poison your food."

"Kay, bae!"

As we ate and talked, I felt my nerves gradually relax - even without the soothing buzz of alcohol to quell my nerves this time. Kai had mailed a letter to his mother earlier in the week, telling her about his summer... and me.

"That reminds me," I muttered thoughtfully, face turning red from a slight bit of embarrassment. "I've been so caught up with everything recently. I need to fill my family in on everything, too. Guess I'll write them sometime this week... boy, they'll be in a for a hell of a surprise."

Kai eyed me interestedly over the rim of his glass, taking a gulp of tea.

"And my dad and brother might lose a bet with my mom because of it..." I continued, watching him smirk.

A short time later, we were once again sharing a familiar scene - snuggled together on the couch, with another cheesy horror flick lighting up the otherwise-dim living room.

"Patricia, no!"

Dr. Lakshmi Patil clutched her face in horror as the giant tarantula rampaged through the streets of Manhattan, the many-legged horror knocking over and crushing whatever she pleased.

"Any bets she takes out the Chrysler next?" Kai asked, watching the screen intently. I frowned, scanning the scenery.

"Building, or that car?"

_Crunch._

"The car," we chorused, grinning at each other and laughing.

"Where the hell did you even get this movie?" Kai asked, chuckling as Dr. Patil backflipped out of the line of a spray of bullets - Patricia was firing at her with an AK-47.

I shrugged, watching as the good doctor lobbed a grenade at her creation. "My grandparents loved this stuff. I used to watch these all the time when I came over as a kid. First time watching this one, though."

Kai shrugged, draping an arm around my shoulders and squeezing me lightly. My stomach fluttered a bit at the touch.

"First time for everything, I guess," I continued in a near-mumble, snaking my own arm around his waist.

Kai leaned his head against mine, looking over at me. "You say something, Jack?"

Feeling a bit of warmth course from my abdomen throughout my arms and legs, I shifted and sat up slightly. It was an odd time to bring it up, but I doubted we were going to miss the world's most groundbreaking feats of cinema ever while we spoke. Nonetheless, I paused the movie, nodding.

"Yeah," I finally answered, keeping my arm around his waist as I looked at him. "Thing is, uhh... K-Kai, I - I, uhh..." He only gave a small, encouraging nod, looking puzzled as I turned red. "Umm, sorry. I'm just nervous, for s... some reason." Deep breath in, deep breath out. "Kai, I'm... I'm ready."

His features softened, and he nodded again, giving me a small smile as he squeezed my shoulder. "You're sure?"

"Yeah." It came out a bit soft, but I repeated it, a bit louder this time: "Yeah. I... I want to make l-l-love to you... Kai. If you're... you know, cool with that."

I felt my face grow hot and my jeans tighten a bit as the words stuttered out, taking great pains to keep looking into his dark brown eyes as they lit up. He nodded once more. "Right now?"

"Right now," I murmured, standing up and grabbing his hand, leading him to my bedroom - I clicked on my bedside lamp, casting a soft, dim light over the room as I pressed him against the wall and kissed him hungrily.

We wasted no time in deepening the kiss, sucking each others' lips and tongues eagerly. Our hands roamed over familiar territory, Kai's skimming down my back and through my rumpled brown hair. My left hand pressed against the nape of his neck, my right resting on the back of his thigh and lifting his leg up slightly, wrapping it around my waist. I nipped at his neck, kissing down his throat and breathing in the scent of his cologne - just as I'd imagined, even hearing him gasp and moan just so.

Even through our pants, as we rubbed together insistently, I could feel how hard he was. I unbuttoned the top buttons of his snug white shirt and purple vest, feeling a faint sense of pride and a stronger sense of lust course through my bones like electricity as I saw the faded mark I'd left on him Saturday evening. Moving back up for another long, deep kiss, I completely unbuttoned the tops, pushing them open and shoving them off, thumbs rubbing roughly over his hard nipples.

He pulled away from me, letting out a sharp cry, before pushing my hands up. "Take your shirt off," he breathed, rubbing his hands over my stomach as I complied. Arm around my waist, he bent forward and sucked one nipple, tugging it gently with his teeth - but it was enough to draw a breathy shout from me nonetheless. Feeling his lips pull into a smile against my skin, he repeated the action, licking the sting away while I buried my fingers in his thick hair and arched my back involuntarily.

Socks and shoes came off next, and our mouths were back together, tongues sliding and darting while we grabbed and rubbed each others' backsides. I ground my crotch against Kai's once more until I felt something warm, soft, and slightly firm against my stomach. Looking down, I saw the head peeking out slightly over the top of his snug pants, a faint moisture glistening on the tip.

Sucking in a shuddering breath, I moved my hand around to the front, rubbing my thumb over it. Kai exhaled loudly, shivering and sagging back against the wall as I stroked it, rubbing my palm over the clothed shaft. My shaking fingers undid the buttons of his khakis and slid them off, followed by his tight black boxer-briefs.

 _Holy crap,_ my mind said simply, taking in his fully-nude form as he smiled slyly at me. He was certainly impressive, and eager to show it off. Taking my hand, he put my thumb up to his mouth and licked off the slight wetness I'd rubbed from him, sucking gently on the top for a moment while my breathing became fast and shallow. Wrapping his arms back around my waist, he pulled me in for another kiss, moving up my cheek to my earlobe while he unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans, leaving them up as he rubbed me through my boxers.

"You ready to taste it?" he whispered, his breathing labored. Gulping, I nodded, giving him one more kiss before I hesitantly sank to my knees.

It looked even bigger and more intimidating up close, jutting out from a neatly-trimmed patch of black hair. Grasping the warm, firm flesh in my hands and giving it a few uncertain strokes, I pushed it up and ran my tongue up the front, bottom to top.

Judging by the sounds he made, I'd chosen wisely. A few more licks, and I slowly took him into my mouth, bit by pleasantly hot, rigid bit. My lips slid smoothly back and forth over him as he grunted and panted. Even though I was the one giving, the feel of him in my mouth, thick and veiny, was surprisingly enjoyable. My tongue ran eagerly over the shaft and head as I licked up a few more slightly salty drops of the clear, sticky liquid. His fingers raked roughly through my hair, pumping his hips at a slow pace as I looked up and locked eyes with him, my free hand running over his bare, round ass.

Feeling myself start to throb almost painfully at the sight of Kai's lust-clouded gaze and shining, sweaty body, I reached down between my own legs to rub the bulge in my boxers. Muffled moans sounded low in my throat as I continued servicing him, now using my other hand to pump whatever wasn't in my mouth - I wasn't crazy enough to try and get it all in there this time.

After a short while, I let him slip out of my mouth, hard as steel and completely glistening now.

"You're a pretty good beginner," Kai whispered happily as he pulled me in for another long, deep kiss, hands undressing me completely now. My stomach lurched slightly at the realization, and my heart thudded madly in my chest as our completely-bare, perspiring bodies pressed together. The familiar sensation of us rubbing together felt completely amplified, my body jerking involuntarily with the jolt of pleasure I felt.

By the time I realized we were moving backwards, Kai sat me down gently on the bed, dropping to his knees and pleasuring me with his hand.

"God, you're so fucking hot," he breathed, making my face heat up even more as he looked up at me to watch my responses to his touch. With each stroke, he twisted his hand slightly, rubbing the palm of his other hand on the head and making me cry out loudly.

"Oh my god," I whimpered, opening my legs a bit wider and slumping back on my bed as he took me in.

The warmth, the wetness, the teasing sensations - everything was heaven. I was bathed in ecstasy, my bones as warm as my skin, the cool breeze of my ceiling fan feeling unbelievable against my sweaty body. I pushed down hard on Kai's head as he easily took me deep into his throat, listening to his appreciative moans. Sliding me out, he sucked a little lower for a bit and elicited even higher-pitched cries from me, fingers barely brushing over my damp stomach.

Pulling him up on top of me for another series of kisses, the room almost feeling humid at that point, we positioned ourselves on the bed so that we could take care of each other at the same time. Laying on our sides and rubbing each others' lower backs as our mouths worked each other, I whined softly as I felt a finger slide up against my entrance, rubbing slowly against it and drawing out a muffled groan. Doing the same thing to him, I was rewarded with a similarly lust-filled noise, as he popped me out of his mouth to respond.

Feeling a bit bold, I opened his legs slightly wider, craning my neck and burying my face in my favorite part of him. My tongue flicked curiously over the tight, puckered spot, my curiosity answered with a stifled yell of pleasure. Grinning to myself, I continued my work happily, listening to him pant raggedly before he decided to mimic my actions with a decidedly more skilled tongue. My cries weren't as muffled, echoing throughout the room as he went to town on me.

Before long, we were laying back on top of each other again, groping and rubbing eagerly. I dipped down to quickly tend to his nipples, feeling him squirm beneath the light touches of my tongue and teeth.

We stroked each other slowly, mouths apart for a brief moment.

"How... how do you wanna do this?" Kai asked softly, his breath coming out a bit raspy. My heart sped up as I realized what he was asking, and I laid back down on top of him as I thought it over.

"Umm... I dunno. I... I think I'd be okay with... y'know, whatever. What about you?"

He chuckled, running his hands down my sweaty back and resting them on my backside. "The same, actually. Bit of a dilemma, huh?"

I smiled wryly, looking up at him and rubbing his chest. "Ummm... maybe not. I mean..." I coughed slightly, wondering why I was suddenly so embarrassed after all we'd done already. "You've got a pretty nice ass and all..." At this, he grinned, simply saying "Likewise". I returned his grin, face once again warmer than the rest of my body. "But... I kinda wanna find out what... well, how you'd feel."

He nodded, kissing my hair. "I think we can arrange that, handsome... any particular position you wanna try?"

Rolling over and reaching into my nightstand, I rummaged around, answering over my shoulder, "I, uhh... I didn't really think about that, either. This is about as ready as I got." Holding up the small tube, I handed it to him, feeling myself harden even further as I watched him squeeze some out onto his fingers.

"We'll just see what happens," he muttered as he used his other hand to pull me down into another long, deep kiss. With a loud moan into his mouth, I felt a long, slicked-up finger enter me. The sensation, with me tight around the digit, drove me to thrust back unconsciously against it. Around the front, a small drop of sticky liquid smeared onto Kai's stomach as I rubbed against it, only pushing more roughly when a second finger entered me.

" _God,_ " I whimpered, enjoying the slight stretching feeling as he scissored his fingers apart gently. " _Jesus,_  Kai..."

"Feels good, huh?"

My eyes slid shut, a wide smile on my lips as he worked me slowly. " _Yeah..._ "

"You wanna ride it?" he whispered devilishly, our eyes locking as he continued twisting those two fingers in and out of me.

I nodded, flushed with a not-unpleasant fever as he slicked himself up and prepared me for the real thing. With a series of breathy, loud moans and cries, I lowered myself slowly onto him, shouting as the swollen head pushed all the way in. His hands wandered onto my backside and squeezed as it continued lowering gradually down his shaft, meeting flush with his thighs.  _Ow. Ow. Ow._

"You okay?" he asked, suddenly looking concerned.

"Y-yeah..." I nodded, panting, sweat running down my chest now. I shook slightly at the feeling, but I was ready. Feeling another surge of lust gently ebbing the discomfort away, I ran my fingers through his hair, my soft voice trembling a little: "Fuck me, Kai."

I didn't have to tell him twice - grasping my ass, he ground his hips beneath me, making me toss my head back and cry out as I felt him move within me. In, out, in, out - I bent forward and placed my hands on his chest, nails digging into the flesh as I started thrusting back. The filling, stretching sensation, rubbing so slickly inside of me, soon became one of the best physical feelings I'd ever experienced as I continued to ride him. My cries increased in volume, almost burying his gasps and sighs, my length slapping against his abs every time I slid back down.

"You like it, handsome?" he hissed, giving my butt a gentle but sharp slap.

"Oh,  _god_ , yeah... _harder._.." A slightly louder slap rang throughout the room this time, and I sucked in a happy breath at the feeling.

Leaning all the way down, I drew him into another kiss as we made love, our names ghosting against each others' lips.

After a blissful, short while of this, I pulled off of him, kissing him once more and rolling him over so he was on top of me.

"Can't make up your mind, can you?" he teased.

I smiled fondly at him. "Shut up,  _bae._ "

We shared a soft laugh as he propped my legs up on his shoulders, sucking on my toes for a moment while looking right in my eyes. I moaned softly and squirmed beneath him, feeling his fingers enter me once more.

"You ready?" he asked, getting an eager nod from me in return. As he guided himself back in, I bit my lip, trying to stifle another loud cry when his thrusts began anew.

He kept my legs up on his shoulder for a short while, licking and nuzzling them, before we wound up pressed against each other. My legs were now wrapped around his lower back, our arms around each other as he moved inside me, mouths together and doing little to soften our excited voices. I vaguely felt as though maybe I'd run my nails down his back once or twice, and arched against him as he left a small mark in the crook of my neck.

"Now we're even," he murmured in my ear, his breathing harsh and ragged. I could only nod dumbly and pant, just wanting to listen to him whisper more things to me in that beautiful, lust-filled voice. Anything.

I was rubbing against his stomach with every thrust, sending extremely pleasant shockwaves down my spine.

"K-Kai... f... faster," I pleaded, feeling my release near. He obliged, and I threw my head back squeezing my eyes shut. "Jesus, fuck,  _yes._ Kai... I-"

My sentence died in a series of breathy shouts - a few of which were Kai's name - as I felt a powerful pulsing sensation between my legs, followed by sticky warmth. Our now-wet stomachs rubbed together as he continued sliding in and out of me, pushing my sweat-matted hair off my forehead and panting loudly.

I suddenly felt him tense up on top of me, catching a brief glimpse of his eyes darkening before they slammed shut. His head hung down as he cried out and throbbed inside of me. A wonderful, hot, viscous feeling pooled down there, and his arms tightened around me. "Oh, god,  _Jack!"_

We lay there, damp and sweaty, holding each other for a while afterward. The euphoric dizziness from our climaxes began to subside, though the light-headed, giddy feeling didn't. I wasn't particularly bothered by that.

Rubbing Kai's smooth back, I kissed him on the cheek, feeling him pull out of me gently. He returned the kiss, sagging against me in pleased exhaustion.

"Wow," he breathed simply, and I had to agree. Wow. He ran a hand through my messy, sweaty hair and smiled at me, leaning down to plant one more long, passionate kiss on the mouth. "I love you, handsome."

Haphazardly pulling the covers over us, starting to fall asleep with his warm body pressed against mine, I clicked off my lamp. "I love you too."

"...Bae?" he finished teasingly, eyes sliding shut as he smiled.

I laughed wearily. "Hell n-sure. Sure. Just for tonight. I love you too,  _bae._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next: Jack's pregnant! Now he has to get to Bethlehem before it's born.
> 
> Okay, not really. Shoot me if I ever do that.
> 
> So, the relationship's been consummated, Kai's set to stay... what's next? An epilogue! Just a little bit of wrap-up, and this story will be officially finished! Thanks as always to those who have read along, favorited, reviewed, and followed. I do hope I've made the read worth it. As always, reviews and feedback are welcomed highly.


	12. Epilogue: Still

With a grunt, I stretched and leaned back against the side of my house, wiping sweat off my forehead.

Kai always stuck his tongue out at me whenever I said it, but I personally found autumn to be the best of the seasons - bustling, but under a much cooler canopy than summer. The air in town constantly smelled like pumpkin, spices, apples, and roast anything, and the rippling array of orange, yellow, brown, red, and violet gave the land the appearance of an ongoing sunset.

Inhaling the fresh November air deeply, I surveyed the land. It was overrun with a colorful assortment of vegetables in one quarter of the field. The remaining areas were dedicated to a wide pasture, a rippling patch of royal blue flowers - the few red ones that had been sprinkled in had gone to Lillia, next door, improving her health considerably - and a patch of apple trees, heavy with ripening fruit.

With a small smile, I made my way toward Mother's Hill, where I knew Kai would be waiting for me.

"Evening, handsome," I heard him call happily, as I reached the lake.

"Evening," I responded simply, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. We made our way to the small bridge that connected the lakeside to the further-up meadow and summit, staring happily at the farm far below. It was even more colorful from up here. "So, how was work today?"

Kai shrugged, smiling at me. "Same as ever - but get this. Manna wants me and Cliff to start  _stomping_  the grapes soon. I dunno how they managed before... man, what if  _they_  stomped them? Ha!" He let out a bark of laughter at the mental image, and I couldn't help but join him - picturing the stone-faced Duke hopping around the vat joylessly while Manna chattered away excitedly, skipping around on the grapes and twirling her dress like a showgirl.

Kai shook his head and continued: "But you should've heard her!" Voice pitching up to a squeaky falsetto, he began jabbering: "'Wash your feet really good next week boys and clip those toenails because who knows what kind of mess gets under a man's nails and no horsing around either I know that I Love Lucy stuff is pretty funny but we're running a business here and'-"

Laughing, I held up a hand to slow him down. "You plan on breathing?"

"Through my nose," he said quickly, "'and make sure to separate the... the...' blah blah, something Italian-sounding and grapey," he decided with a nod. Exhaling loudly, he slumped over the bridge. "Actually sounds kind of fun! Except the no rough-housing part. I always wanted my ultimate test of strength against my greatest rival to be in a vat of grapes."

"Aww, but Cliff's got that baby on the way, anyway. He shouldn't be wrestling people in Ann's condition." I patted his shoulder sympathetically, shooting him a cheeky grin. "It's okay, Kai, I still love you. Even if I think less of your masculinity now."

"Damn! Maybe I should wrestle bears?" he suggested, faking a thoughtful look. Shaking his head, he looked back to me. "So, I bet you're exhausted. What needs to be done around the house?"

I waved off his offer gratefully. "Nothing, actually. You've been a huge help with that, so we're... actually ready for tomorrow. We're just gonna need to get dinner ready before they arrive, and that'll be it."

Nodding and looking pleased, Kai hummed excitedly. "I can't wait to see them again."

"Me, too. At least they'll get to sleep in the house this time."

Nearly two years had passed since I'd arrived in Mineral Town - in the past year-and-a-half, Kai's mom had remarried and visited with her new husband during the previous New Year's week, alongside my parents and brother. I smiled fondly at the memories - gathering in the living room and watching movies after a snowball fight; enjoying a large dinner at the inn after dancing in the square on New Year's Day; swapping stories about our lives, our jobs, and the places we lived.

In that time, I'd managed to have a second guest room added onto my house - the last visit had found my and Kai's family staying at the inn. No problem for them, as they repeatedly insisted over our guilty apologies - although my brother did lay a pretty hefty, playful guilt trip on me, until my mom threatened to put him to work sweeping the town's chimneys if he didn't stop.

Looking down a bit further, tearing my gaze away from the farm, I let my eyes wander to the gushing waterfall that poured from the stream flowing directly beneath our feet. Did it all start right there? It was so almost like a distant dream now: A chance meeting with Kai by the river, before  _and_  after some of the weirdest encounters I'd ever had in my life.

On the other hand, it'd been totally worth it.

"You know, the farm looks nicer and nicer every time I see it," Kai mused, inching closer to me and slinging an arm around my shoulder. His lips brushed my cheek briefly. "I know your grandpa's not the only one proud of you."

I leaned my head against his, sighing gratefully. "You know, I actually had a dream like this once. It's almost uncanny."

"Mmm?"

I chuckled softly. "That night you took care of me back before we started dating, remember? I had a migraine, and your face disappeared, and you started speaking like you'd had a stroke."

"Oh?" He smirked. "I seem to recall  _someone else_  babbling incoherently, but back to this future-predicting dream of yours. Go on, Miss Cleo."

I poked him in the ribs, making him squirm and squeak. "There you go again, talking crazy. But, yeah, while I was passed out. I just dreamed about us standing up here, looking at the farm together. You told me how proud you were-" I turned to him, looking into his eyes and taking his hand, placing it on my cheek, "-we looked at each other, you touched my face, and..."

We leaned in, eyes closed blissfully as the breeze rustled by us.

"...And then everyone exploded?" Kai teased after we pulled apart, raising his eyebrows.

I snickered and shook my head. "Actually, I woke up before we kissed. I just... wanted to finish what the dream started. You know, it was the day I realized I liked you, too. When I was sick and delirious."

"I have that effect on people," Kai cracked, rubbing the nape of my neck with his thumb. "Tell you the truth, I kinda started falling for you after we hung out at the diner that one day."

Slipping my arm around his waist as we turned to head up to the summit of the hill, I clicked my tongue in a sympathetic manner. "Damn those cooking oil fumes."

"I can live with the side effects," he said happily, flicking my hair playfully. "Hey, I ever tell you about  _my_ dream...?"

I smiled and pinched him lightly on the side, causing him to yelp. "Kai, if this is about that spaceship  _again..._ "

He gave me a playful punch on the arm. "I'll take you out first when I get that thing!"

"Nah, you love me too much. You'll save me for last."

He shrugged. "Good point. Maybe you can be my second-in-command. But I'll leave the farm alone."

I hugged him tighter. "Gee, thanks!" I felt him laugh as we sat down by the tree where we watched the fireworks together again last June - and for the first time the June before that. The night things finally came to a head.

"Of course." He squeezed my hand as we watched the sun start to set. "Love you, Jack."

No matter how many times he said that, it still made my stomach feel light and fluttery, and the rest of me pleasantly warm. I hoped hearing those words would keep bringing the butterflies for the rest of our lives. "Love you too, Kai."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... that's a wrap. It's been quite a run, writing this story. Hopefully, it was an enjoyable one for the folks reading. Admittedly, I do look back and see that, even though I've grown since writing the original, I still had quite a ways to go when starting this, and still do now. Nonetheless, I'm glad I did this. I think it's prepared me better for future stories I may start.
> 
> Thanks to those who read, commented, kudos-ized - hopefully I made the story worth it. Comments are still highly welcome, and a final special thanks to my wonderful friend Alyssa for the feedback and the behind-the-scenes brainstorming, even when either of us took it to bizarre places.
> 
> Well, time will tell what comes next, but I'll see you all there!


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